Ill 

hen  and 

1692-1917 


From  the  Autographic  Album,  1892. 

Family  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia:  i.  Czar  Alexander  III.  2.  Empress 
Marie.  Children:  3.  Nicholas,  the  present  Czar.  4.  Grand  Duke 
Michael.  5.  Grand  Duke  George  who  died  after  the  accident  with  a 
velocipede.  6.  Grand  Duchess  Xenia.  7.  Grand  Duchess  Olga. 
(Both  Grand  Duchesses  are  now  giving  their  services  to  the  Red  Cross.) 


1892-1917 

MY    MISSION    TO     RUSSIA    DURING 

THE  FAMINE  OF  1891-1892  WITH 

DATA  BEARING  UPON 

RUSSIA    OF    TO-DAY 


BY 

FRANCIS  B.  REEVES 


WITH  THIRTY-FOUR  ILLUSTRATIONS 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW    YORK    AND    LONDON 

Ube  Ifcnicfeerbocfeer  press 
1917 


COPYRIGHT.  1917 

BY 
FRANCIS  B.  REEVES 


Ube  fmtcherbocfcer  press,  Hew  SJorh 


StacJt 


Preface 

SURELY  we  have  reason  for  gratulation  that 
the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Empire  of 
Russia  have  always  been  on  terms  of  amity,  of 
which  fact  the  coming  to  us  of  their  warships  in 
our  time  of  threatened  disunion;  the  sending  to 
them  of  our  relief  ships  in  their  time  of  famine; 
their  people's  beautiful  expressions  of  gratitude 
through  our  Commissioners,  and  the  coming  to 
Philadelphia  of  their  fleet  of  battleships  in  1893 
with  splendid  gifts  from  their  Emperor  to  the 
Commissioners  to  Russia  for  relief  of  their  famish- 
ing peasantry,  are  happy  indications. 

And  may  we  not  link  up  with  this  gold  chain 
Russia's  sale  to  the  United  States  of  Russian 
America — Alaska?  A  possession  of  Russia  since 
its  discovery  A.D.  1741,  with  an  area  of  590,884 
square  miles,  they  let  us  have  Alaska  by  treaty 
of  March  30,  1867,  for  the  insignificant  sum  of 
$7,200,000. 

Equally  good  tokens  of  friendship  have  followed 
these  long-gone  years  up  to  the  present  day. 

iii 


iv  PREFACE 

The  motive  to  write  this  book  was  the  resultant 
of  these  convincing  thoughts. 

A  frequent  traveller  or  a  long-time  sojourner  in 
a  foreign  country  might  be  better  qualified  to 
entertain  friends  at  home  with  an  account  of  his 
journeyings  than  can  one  whose  observations  have 
been  limited  as  to  territory  and  time.  Yet,  en- 
couraged by  the  assurance  that  this  mission 
afforded  me  special  advantages  such  as  are  not 
experienced  by  an  ordinary  traveller,  I  determined 
to  make  a  book-story  of  it. 

Men,  whose  privilege  it  is  to  be  living  in  these 
days,  are  wont  to  discourse  upon  or  to  read  about 
the  wonderful  achievements  of  human  knowledge. 
Like  the  ancient  Athenians,  much  of  our  time  is 
spent  in  nothing  else,  but  either  to  tell  or  to  hear 
some  new  thing.  Happily  the  present  age  has 
that  to  tell  that  is  of  vastly  more  practical  value 
to  the  world  than  was  all  the  boasted  wisdom  of 
the  Hellenists  in  the  early  years  of  the  Christian 
era. 

Not  alone  in  the  discovery  of  new  material 
forces  and  the  skilful  unfolding  of  long-hidden 
secrets  along  the  lines  of  the  applied  sciences,  but 
also  in  the  increase  in  knowledge  of  the  will  and 


PREFACE  v 

ways  of  God  and  the  real  meaning  of  the  life  of 
His  Son,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  is  our  age  making 
great  forward  strides. 

If  one  should  now  return  to  earth  after  a  visit 
upon  another  planet,  our  volunteer  systems  of 
public  charity  would  be  a  revelation  to  him;  not, 
however,  such  a  revelation  as  was  given  to  the 
Apostle  on  Patmos,  of  a  glorious  world  where  there 
is  no  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  nor  any 
more  pain,  for  the  former  things  are  not  yet  all 
passed  away.  Rather  it  would  be  an  open  vision 
of  a  spot  of  hallowed  ground  in  this  "  present  evil 
world,"  where  real  sickness  and  sorrow  abound; 
of  a  city  whose  inhabitants  are  continually  saying 
11 1  am  sick." 

Ever  since  the  outbreak  of  the  ferocious  war 
two  and  a  half  years  ago,  and  still  raging,  Russia 
has  been  growing  nearer  and  dearer  to  America. 

This  statement  is  no  implication  of  our  lack  of 
regard  for  other  nations  engaged  in  the  terrible 
conflict.  We  are  mourning  for  the  millions  in  the 
war  zone  who  are  suffering  the  pangs  of  grief  and 
despair.  Praying  for  their  relief  we  harbour  a 
gleam  of  hope  that  Almighty  God  will  soon  reveal 
a  way  to  end  all  wars  now  and  forever. 


vi  PREFACE 

A  PRAYER  FOR  PEACE 

Heavenly  Father,  God  of  Nations, 

Thou  hast  blessed  our  native  land, 
Showering  favours  without  measure 

From  Thy  ever  gracious  hand. 
Oft  beside  the  quiet  waters 

Thou  hast  led  us;  still  lead  on; 
Shield  when  dark'ning  tempests  threaten, 

Guard  us  'til  the  storm  has  gone. 

Father,  haste  the  day  of  promise, 

When,  in  all  the  world  around, 
Wars  shall  cease:  ye  angels  harken! 

Hear  the  gospel  trumpet  sound ! 
Wake  the  echo,  Christian  Nations! 

"  Peace  on  earth  "  your  watchword  be, 
'Til  Love's  banner,  all  victorious, 

Floats  o'er  every  land  and  sea. 

Light  the  torch  of  truth  and  freedom 

O'er  the  Nations  near  and  far; 
Bid  the  world's  belated  rulers 

Now  prepare  for  Zion's  war. 
Glory  be  to  God  the  Father, 

With  the  Spirit  and  the  Son ; 
Blessing,  honour,  glory,  power, 

To  our  God,  great  Three  in  One.    Amen. 

The  author  extends  thanks  to  John  Lane  Com- 
pany, publishers,  for   the   privilege    of   copying 


PREFACE  vii 

extracts  from  John  Hubbak's  Russian  Realities; 
to  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Co.,  publishers,  for  permis- 
sion to  include  extracts  from  John  Foster  Fraser's 
Russia  of  To-Day;  to  Rabbi  Joseph  Krauskopf, 
D.D.,  for  the  inclusion  of  his  addresses  before  his 
congregations  at  Temple  Keneseth  Israel;  to  Hon. 
Rudolph  Blankenburg  for  the  privilege  of  quoting 
from  his  pamphlets  regarding  his  visit  to  Russia  in 
1892 ;  to  R.  Martens  &  Co.,  Incd.,  for  extracts  from 
their  monthly  brochure  entitled,  Russia;  to  the 
American  Geographic  Society  for  including  a 
writing  by  E.  K.  Reynolds;  to  The  Continent,  and 
to  the  Sunday  School  Times  for  articles  by  Mar- 
garet Wintringer;  to  Samuel  McRoberts,  Vice- 
President  of  the  National  City  Bank  of  New  York, 
for  the  use  of  his  publication  Russia;  to  the 
Guaranty  Trust  Company  of  New  York  for  ex- 
tracts from  their  booklets  relating  to  Russia's 
Finance  and  Commerce. 

FRANCIS  B.  REEVES. 


We've  a  story  to  tell  to  the  nations, 

That  shall  turn  their  hearts  to  the  right, 
A  story  of  truth  and  sweetness, 
A  story  of  peace  and  light. 

We've  a  song  to  be  sung  to  the  nations, 
That  shall  lift  their  hearts  to  the  Lord; 
A  song  that  shall  conquer  evil 

And  shatter  the  spear  and  sword. 

We've  a  message  to  give  to  the  nations, 
That  the  Lord  who  reigneth  above, 
Hath  sent  His  Son  to  save  us, 

And  show  us  that  God  is  love. 

We've  a  Saviour  to  show  to  the  nations, 
Who  the  path  of  sorrow  has  trod, 
That  all  of  the  world's  great  people 
Might  come  to  the  light  of  God! 

For  darkness  shall  turn  to  dawning, 

And  the  dawning  to  noonday  bright, 
And  Christ's  great  kingdom  shall  come  on  earth, 
The  kingdom  of  love  and  light. 

COLIN    STERNE. 


vm 


Contents 

PAGE 

PREFACE iii 

CHAPTER 

I. — RUSSIA'S  FAMINE  OF  1891-1892 — GREAT 

RELIEF  FROM  U.  S.  A.,  1892     .         .         i 

II. — SAILING  OF  S.  S.  "CONEMAUGH"       .        9 
III. — RIGA'S  GRAND  WELCOME  .         .        .15 

IV.— A    RELIGIOUS   SERVICE — As   LOADED 
TRAINS    START    FOR    THE    FAMINE- 
STRICKEN  DISTRICTS       .         .         .30 

V. — FROM  RIGA  TO  ST.  PETERSBURG  .  47 

VI. — FROM  PETROGRAD  TO  Moscow     .  .  52 

VII. — VISITING  THE  POOR  PEASANTS  .  „•  57 

VIII. — WITH  COUNT  TOLSTOY      .        ,  .  67 

IX. — RUSSIA'S  JEWISH  PEOPLE           .  *  77 

X. — RUSSIA'S  RELIGION    ....  96 

XI. — THE  ABOLITION  OF  VODKA         .  .no 

XII. — WHAT   THEY   SAW   IN   RUSSIA  AFTER 
VODKA  LEFT — BY  MARGARET  WIN- 

TRINGER  .  .  .  .  .113 

ix 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIII. — THE  TRUE  STORY  OF  THE  WORLD'S 
MOST  GIGANTIC  TEMPERANCE  EXPERI- 
MENT— BY  MARGARET  WINTRINGER  .  119 

XIV. — TEETOTAL  RUSSIA     .         .        .        .126 

APPENDIX     .         .         ;                  .         .         .  129 

POSTSCRIPT   .        ...        .        .        .  179 


Illustrations 

PAGE 

THE  FAMILY  OF  THE  CZAR,  ALEXANDER  III. 

Frontispiece 

GRAND  DUKE  NICHOLAS — 1892  i 

GROUP     OF     WORKINGMEN     OF     THE     PORT    OF 

LlBAU     .......  4 

GOING  TO  MEET  THE  "CONEMAUGH"  ON  "THE 

ROADS"  FROM  RIGA        ....       14 

THE  INHABITANTS  OF  RIGA  SALUTING  THE 
AMERICAN  S.  S.  "CONEMAUGH"  FROM 
PHILADELPHIA,  ON  "THE  ROADS"  AT  RIGA  16 

PARTY  AT  DINNER  GIVEN  BY  NIELS  PETER 

BORNHOLDT l8 

ON  THE  WAY,  BY  GOVERNMENT  TRANSPORT, 
TO  THE  CEREMONIES  ON  THE  "  CONEMAUGH," 
MAY  1-13, 1892  .....  20 

THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  BLACK  HEADS  CLUB,  RIGA         22 

U.  S.  CONSUL  NIELS  PETER  BORNHOLDT,  CAPTAIN 
SPENCER  OF  S.  S.  "CONEMAUGH,"  U.  S. 
CONSUL-GENERAL  DR.  CRAWFORD,  AND 
FRANCIS  B.  REEVES  26 


xii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

RELIGIOUS  SERVICE  AT  STARTING  OF  RAILROAD 
TRAINS  FOR  THE  FAMINE-STRICKEN  DIS- 
TRICTS .......  30 

A  TROYKA 46 

THE  IMPERIAL  FAMILY  OF  DENMARK  AT  THE 
ROYAL  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  GOLDEN 
WEDDING  OF  KING  CHRISTIAN  IX.  AND 

QUEEN  LOUISA       .....  48 

THE  WINTER  PALACE,  PETROGRAD          .         .  50 

ST.  BASIL'S  CATHEDRAL,  Moscow           .         .  52 

Moscow.    KREMLIN.    BELL-TOWER   OF   IVAN 

THE  GREAT    ......  54 

CHURCH  OF  THE  ASCENSION,  PETROGRAD           .  56 

A  HAPPY  PEASANT  FAMILY    ....  58 

RUSSIAN  PEASANTS  MAKING  HAY  ...  60 

COUNT  LEO  TOLSTOY    .....  64 

FACSIMILE  OF  A  LETTER  FROM  COUNT  TOLSTOY 

TO  THE  AUTHOR     .....  70 

MAI  AND  SOPHIE  PETERSON  ....  74 

THE  FOUNDLING  HOSPITAL,  Moscow     .        .  82 

POOR  PEASANTS    ......  94 

UNDER  THEIR  ROOF                                          .  102 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xiii 

PAGE 

GOLD-PLATED  PUNCH  SET  PRESENTED  TO  THE 

AUTHOR 106 

Moscow  RESTAURANT,  ONE  OF  THE  MOST  NOTED 

IN  RUSSIA      .        .        .         .         .        .112 

KALMUCK  HUTS  ON  THE  VOLGA,  NEAR  ASTRACHAN   122 
PHILARET     .......     128 

PEASANT  GIRLS     .         .         .         .         .         .     130 

THE  FIRST  OF  THE  HARVEST         .        .        .134 

TOYS  MADE  BY  THE  INSTRUCTION  TOY  SHOP  OF 
THE  PROVINCIAL  ZEMSTVO  OF  THE  Moscow 
GOVERNMENT,  IN  SERGIEV  POSAD  (HAMLET)  142 

BUFFET  MADE  BY  THE  KOUSTARS  OF  SERGIEV 

POSAD  (HAMLET)    .         .         .         .         .146 

Miss  FLORENCE  FAIR  GIVING  HER  AID  TO  MAKE 

THE  RUSSIAN  BAZAAR  A  SUCCESS     .         .172 

THE  LAST  CZAR  OF  RUSSIA  AND  His  FAMILY    180 


Grand  Duke  Nicholas — 1892;  Czar  of  Russia,  1894  to  1917.     He  Married 

Princess  Alix  of  Hesse,  a  State  of  the  German  Empire,  a 

Granddaughter  of  Queen  Victoria. 


Russia  Then  and  Now 


Russia's  Famine  of  1891-1892 

Great  Relief  from  U.  S.  A.,  1892 

FOLLOWING  authenticated  reports  that  the 
agricultural  districts  of  European  Russia  had  suf- 
fered an  awful  failure  of  their  crops  of  food 
supplies  (1891),  there  appeared  in  many  of  the 
newspapers  of  the  United  States  telegraphic  re- 
ports of  an  impending  famine  in  a  large  portion 
of  the  Empire.  As  days  went  by,  despatches,  re- 
affirming and  emphasizing  these  first  outgivings 
of  the  dreadful  news  multiplied,  and  the  story  of 
famine-stricken  Russia  was  being  discussed  by 
humanitarians  all  over  our  favoured  land.  The 
Philadelphia  Permanent  Relief  Committee,  having 
received  confirmation  of  these  reports,  through 
private  and  semi-official  agencies,  and  particularly 


RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 


through  telegraphic  and  written  communication 
with  the  United  States  Legation  at  Russia's 
Capital,  and  by  conference  with  our  State  Depart- 
ment and  the  Russian  Ambassador,  was  convened 
to  consider  the  question  of  sending  relief  to  the 
sufferers. 

At  the  time  of  harvesting  the  grain  crops  of 
1891  the  farmers  were  induced  to  sell  at  the 
bidding  of  high  prices  by  buyers  for  the  Central 
Powers.  Dr.  J.  M.  Crawford,  our  Consul-General, 
writing  January,  1892,  to  the  United  States 
Department  of  State,  said : 

The  great  advance  in  price  of  grain  at  the  beginning 
of  the  last  crop  season  tempted  farmers  throughout 
the  Empire  to  sell,  trusting  to  Providence  and  the 
generosity  of  the  Central  Governments  to  look  after 
the  poor.  Hence  it  was  that  under  the  stimulus  of  high 
prices,  the  export  of  cereals  from  Russia  up  to  date 
of  the  Imperial  Ukase  putting  an  embargo  on  wheat 
has  been  officially  found  to  be  equal  to  those  of  last 
year,  thus  seriously  complicating  the  whole  matter. 

The  elevators  of  the  Baltic  and  Odessa  ports,  as 
well  as  the  storehouses  on  the  different  lines  of  rail- 
road, are  overflowing  with  grain  that  has  been  con- 
tracted for  and  in  part  paid  for  by  English  and 
German  buyers.  This  mass  of  grain,  practically  the 
property  of  foreign  speculators,  is  waiting  for  the 


FAMINE  OF  i8pi-g2 


Imperial  gates  to  open  and  let  it  pass  through.  It  is 
evident  that  it  will  be  extremely  difficult  even  in  an 
Imperial  form  of  government  to  prevent  it  from  going 
to  its  owners  whose  object  was  to  sell  this  grain  at  a 
big  profit  to  the  Government  for  the  relief  of  the 
starving.  They  rushed  the  rye  and  wheat  in  great 
quantities  over  the  frontier  in  the  three  weeks  that 
intervened  between  the  time  the  Ukase  was  deter- 
mined upon  and  the  date  of  its  taking  effect.  The 
peasants  in  many  places  tried  to  stop  it,  and  in  some 
cases  bloodshed  resulted.  They  said,  "You  are 
exporting  the  blood  of  our  children." 

But  what  cared  these  horrid  speculators  and 
gamblers  for  starving  children? 

Information  came  to  us  that  the  National  Red 
Cross  Association  had  the  promise  of  the  people  of 
Minnesota  of  sufficient  corn  to  load  a  ship  and 
the  thought  of  the  Philadelphia  Committee  was  to 
collect  enough  money,  from  the  charitable  among 
us,  to  charter  a  steamship  and  tender  the  same  to 
the  Red  Cross  that  no  time  might  be  lost  in  re- 
lieving the  distress.  Meantime,  it  was  deemed 
advisable  that  a  special  Russian  Famine  Relief 
Committee  should  be  formed,  to  include  others 
than  members  of  the  Permanent  Relief  Commit- 
tee, to  proceed  immediately  with  the  work  in  hand. 
This  Committee  was  thereupon  formed  with 


RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 


twenty-five  members,  the  Mayor  being  its  Chair- 
man. Correspondence  with  regard  to  the  alleged 
cargo  of  corn  in  possession  of  the  Red  Cross 
evidencing  that  there  was  faint  prospect  of  its 
reaching  the  Atlantic  seaboard  within  a  reasonable 
time,  the  Philadelphia  Committee  proceeded  with 
vigour  to  make  their  appeals  to  the  public  to 
purchase  flour,  rice,  etc.,  and  to  charter  a  steam- 
ship to  carry  it  to  Russia.  Sub-committees,  one 
on  Transportation,  one  on  Finance,  another  on 
Purchases  and  Supplies,  were  formed,  and  all  these 
worked  with  a  will.  The  Committee  met  with  the 
greatest  encouragement  at  the  outset  in  the 
magnanimous  offer  by  the  International  Naviga- 
tion Company  of  Philadelphia  of  the  use  of  the 
S.  S.  Indiana  free  of  cost,  excepting  the  actual 
outlay  for  expenses  of  voyage,  and  the  generous 
proffer  by  the  officers  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company  and  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Rail- 
road Company  of  free  transportation  over  their 
respective  railways  for  all  supplies  given  or  pur- 
chased, without  limit  as  to  distance  or  quantity. 
The  religious  exercises  on  the  wharf  at  the  sailing 
of  the  S.  S.  Indiana,  our  first  messenger  of  Mercy 
to  the  famine-stricken  peasants  of  Russia,  on 


Group  of  Workingmen  of  the  Port  of  Libau. 

Under  the  picture  is  the  following  Biblical  quotation;  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye 
have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  My  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  Me." 


FAMINE  OF  1891-92 


Washington's  Birthday,  1892,  were  so  unique 
and  remarkable  that  they  commanded  attention 
throughout  Christendom.  Roman  Catholic  Arch- 
bishop Ryan,  Jewish  Rabbi  Jastrow,  Presbyterian 
Rev.  Charles  Wood,  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop 
Whitaker,  Baptist  Minister  Dr.  Wayland  and 
Methodist  Episcopal  Bishop  Foss,  standing  upon 
a  common  platform,  gave  wings  to  the  faith  and 
hope  that  inspired  every  breast,  that  He  who  rules 
the  winds  and  the  waves  would  speed  the  great 
ship  to  its  desired  haven.  And  I  thought  as  I 
looked  upon  this  scene  that,  though  prophecies 
shall  fail,  tongues  shall  cease,  and  knowledge  shall 
vanish  away,  the  love  that  binds  the  hearts  of  the 
children  of  men  in  the  bonds  of  a  common  brother- 
hood shall  endure  forever.  Here  was  Charity  in 
volcanic  action,  and  in  its  fire  I  beheld  the  beauti- 
ful foundation-stone  of  all  true  religions,  sparkling 
like  a  "gem  of  purest  ray  serene,"  and,  following 
its  light,  flashed  across  the  stormy  seas,  I  have 
seen  it  again  and  again,  lightening  many  a  dark 
and  dreary  dwelling  in  dreadfully  afflicted  Russia. 
Their  cry  of  distress  went  up  to  Heaven  and  was 
echoed  back  to  our  far  distant  shores. 

The  Philadelphia  Relief  Committee's  Commis- 


RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 


sioners  to  go  to  Russia  and  deliver  the  Indiana's 
cargo  and  a  liberal  gift  of  money,  besides  myself, 
were  Hon.  Rudolph  Blankenburg  and  Anthony  J. 
Drexel,  Jr.  As  I  was  obliged  to  resign  the  appoint- 
ment because  of  the  serious  illness  of  a  member  of 
my  family,  Dr.  A.  L.  Biddle  was  appointed  in 
my  place. 

So  prompt  and  liberal  were  the  good  people  of 
Philadelphia  and  other  towns,  in  responding  to 
the  appeal  for  money,  that  when  the  Indiana  sailed 
for  Libau,  Russia,  on  Washington's  Birthday,  1892, 
loaded  to  her  utmost  capacity,  the  inflow  of  money 
was  at  its  height,  and  there  were  no  signs  of  an 
ebbing  tide.  Then  came  the  resolution  to  send  a 
second  cargo,  and  again  came  the  offer  from  the 
International  Navigation  Company  of  another 
free  steamship,  the  Conemaugh;  and  again  the 
word  from  our  big  railroad  men  offering  to  carry 
the  shipment  free  of  all  freight  charges,  even 
though  it  was  to  be  transported  from  afar,  as  was 
the  greater  part  of  the  Indiana's  cargo.  Coal 
companies  freely  supplied  the  steamship  with 
fuel  for  their  engines,  and  stevedores  worked 
without  wages  to  load  them;  grocery  men  gave 
provisions  for  officers  and  crews;  rich  men  gave  of 


FAMINE  OF  1891-02 


their  abundance,  widows  of  their  mites;  churches 
of  all  creeds,  societies  of  all  sorts,  Sunday  schools 
innumerable,  children  of  public  and  private  day 
schools,  in  a  word,  almost  everybody  helped  with 
glowing  zeal. 

This  was  in  April.  The  Philadelphia  Relief 
Committee  then  commissioned  me  to  go  to  Russia 
to  supervise  the  delivery  and  distribution  of  the 
Conemaugh's  cargo. 

Following  is  an  appeal  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Department  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 
to  every  Post  of  that  Department: 

Headquarters  Department  of  Pennsylvania, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
No.  1025  Arch  Street. 


Philadelphia,  April  i,  1892. 


General  Orders 
No.  4. 


I.  The  Steamship  Conemaugh  will  sail  under 
the  American  Flag  from  the  Port  of  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.,  on  April  23,  1892,  with  a  cargo  of 
food  for  the  relief  of  the  starving  Russian 
peasants. 

II.  Remembering  the  acts  of  friendship  shown 
by  the  Russian  Government  and  people 
towards  this  Nation  during  the  period  of  the 


RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 


Civil  War,  each  Post  of  this  Department  is 
requested  to  donate  one  or  more  barrels  of 
flour  to  this  worthy  object,  not  only  as  an  act 
of  humanity  towards  a  starving  people,  but 
also  as  an  evidence  of  the  appreciation  of  the 
services  of  the  Russian  Government  at  that 
time  by  the  men  who  fought  for  the  perpetua- 
tion of  American  Liberty. 

III.  All  contributions  should  be  marked  "Russian 
Famine  Relief,  Steamship  Conemaugh,  Phila- 
delphia,"  together  with  the  number  of  the 
Post.  They  will  be  forwarded  free  of  charge 
by  any  railroad.  Notice  should  also  be  sent 
to  these  Headquarters  immediately  upon  the 
shipment  of  donations,  stating  the  number 
of  barrels  contributed. 

By  Command  of  Department  Commander 

John  P.  Taylor. 

SAM'L  P.  TOWN, 
Asst.  Adjt.-General. 


II 

Sailing  of  S.  S.  ConemaugH 

THE  ceremonies  preceding  the  sailing  of  the 
Conemaugh,  Captain  James  W.  Spencer,  April 
23,  1892,  though  less  elaborate  than  those  of  the 
previous  occasion,  were  no  less  impressive. 

Two  thousand  men  and  women  crowded  the 
wharves  and  the  steamer's  deck  at  sailing  time. 
Singing  societies  sang  patriotic  hymns  of  the  two 
nations,  and  instrumental  bands  contributed  their 
music  to  the  joyous  God-speed.  His  Honour 
Mayor  Stuart,  as  chief  executive  officer  of  the 
City  of  Philadelphia  and  Chairman  ex-officio  of 
the  Relief  Committee,  made  an  effective  speech; 
two  eminent  ministers  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
Dr.  James  E.  Rhoads  and  John  B.  Garrett,  the 
one  with  the  reading  of  a  Psalm  and  an  appropriate 
address,  the  other  with  prayer  for  God's  blessing 
and  protection,  voiced  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the 
assembled  thousands  and  of  the  greater  multitude 
by  whose  charity  the  great  steamship  was  freighted 

9 


io  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

for  God's  suffering  children  in  Russia,  starving, 
despairing,  dying  victims  of  famine  resulting  from 
the  almost  total  failure  of  their  crops  of  food 
products  in  1891. 

The  Conemaugh1  s  course,  after  crossing  the 
Atlantic,  was  around  the  north  of  Scotland 
close  by  the  Hebrides,  through  the  North  Sea, 
under  the  coast  of  Sweden;  thence  northeast- 
ward to  Riga,  the  principal  Baltic  port  of 
Russia,  a  beautiful  city  of  more  than  two 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  This  voyage, 
Captain  Spencer  of  the  Conemaugh  had  in- 
formed me,  would  probably  require  twenty 
days. 

Four  days  after  the  sailing  of  the  Conemaugh  I 
took  passage  for  Antwerp,  Belgium,  on  the 
Steamship  Waesland  of  the  International  Naviga- 
tion Company's  Red  Star  Line.  The  superior 
appointments  of  this  steamer  and  the  extreme 
kindness  and  courtesy  of  its  commander,  Captain 
Grant,  combined  to  make  the  voyage  a  delight. 
The  Captain  by  request  of  the  Company  quartered 
me  in  his  spacious  deck  cabin.  A  two  days'  sojourn 
in  Antwerp  was  made  necessary  by  sending  and 
receiving  cable  messages,  etc.,  and  then  I  started 


SAILING  OF  S.  S.  CONEMAUGH          n 

by  rail  for  Riga,  via  Berlin,  Koenigsburg,  and 
Wirballen. 

At  Wirballen,  an  important  Russian  frontier 
station,  I  was  fortunate,  being  alone  and  unlearned 
in  the  Russian  language,  in  meeting  Count  Fer- 
zen  of  St.  Petersburg,  an  officer  of  the  Imperial 
Lancers,  who  assisted  me  in  exchanging  British 
gold  for  roubles,  and  gave  me  valuable  information 
regarding  Riga. 

Secretary  of  State  Blaine,  who  had  taken  a  deep 
personal  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Philadelphia 
Committee,  had  provided  me  with  a  special  pass- 
port countersigned  by  the  Russian  Minister  at 
Washington  and  sealed  with  the  double-headed 
eagle,  the  great  seal  of  his  Government,  together 
with  the  following  letter: 


Department    of    State, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  Feb.  23,  1892. 

To  the  Diplomatic  and  Consular  Officers  of  the  United 
States: 

GENTLEMEN  : 

At  the  instance  of  the  Honourable  Edwin  S.  Stuart, 
Mayor  of  Philadelphia,  I  herewith  introduce  Mr. 
Francis  B.  Reeves,  a  member  of  the  Citizens'  Russian 


12  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

Famine  Relief  Committee  of  Philadelphia,  who  is 
going  abroad  as  representative  of  that  Committee. 

I  ask  for  Mr.  Reeves  such  official  courtesies  as  you 
may  be  able  to  extend  to  assist  him  in  his  humane 
mission. 

I  am,  Gentlemen, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  G.  ELAINE. 

The  route,  until  Russia's  borders  were  crossed, 
extended  through  the  Belgian  and  German  farming 
country,  over  which  the  beauties  of  a  vernal 
springtime  had  been  lavishly  scattered.  I  arrived 
at  Riga  the  morning  of  Thursday,  the  I2th  of 
May  (their  date,  the  30th  of  April),  not  a  day  too 
soon,  for  the  Conemaugh  came  to  anchor  in  the 
roadstead  eight  miles  below  the  city  the  next 
morning. 

A  schedule  for  a  wide  distribution  of  the  flour, 
etc.,  among  the  various  agencies  throughout  the 
stricken  provinces  having  been  already  prepared 
by  the  Czarovitch  Relief  Committee  in  connection 
with  the  United  States  Legation  at  St.  Petersburg, 
I  had  but  to  examine  and  approve  it,  reserving, 
however,  a  few  carloads  for  any  special  cases  of 
want  that  might  be  discovered  on  my  visit  to  the 
famine  region  later  on.  Enough  railroad  cars 


SAILING  OF  S.  S.  CONEMAUGH         13 

(they  call  them  wagons  in  Russia)  were  at  hand  to 
move  the  entire  cargo.  By  order  of  the  head  of 
the  department  of  the  railways  these  trains  were 
given  right  of  way  before  all  others,  not  excepting 
passenger  trains. 

The  Imperial  Government  carefully  observed 
official  independence  in  all  matters  connected  with 
the  gifts  of  private  charity,  whether  from  their 
own  people  or  from  abroad,  and  it  is  well  known 
that  all  such  gifts  met  with  the  most  kindly  ap- 
proval and  grateful  sympathy  of  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  and  with  the  hearty  sanction  of  their 
Court  and  Cabinet. 

I  heard  of  well-authenticated  cases  of  inter- 
ference with  the  relief  organization  by  local 
tchinovniks  (officials),  but  this  happened  at  the 
beginning  of  their  work,  and  may  be  accounted  for 
on  the  ground  that  these  lazy  and  inefficient  office- 
holders were  piqued  because  they  were  not 
allowed  to  have  a  hand  in  it.  They  soon  found, 
however,  that  the  authorities  at  St.  Petersburg 
would  give  them  their  just  deserts  if  they  did  ,not 
mind  their  own  business  and  let  the  voluntary 
workers  take  their  own  course,  so  there  was  no 
interference  nor  trouble  of  any  kind  afterwards. 


i4  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  people  of  Philadelphia 
and  other  large  American  cities  will  not  wake  up 
and  exercise  such  a  power  to  curb  the  grip  of 
their  self-serving  political  gangsters. 


I 


'sJ 


Ill 

Riga's  Grand  Welcome 

EXTENSIVE  preparations  had  been  made  by  the 
authorities  and  citizens  of  Riga  for  a  patriotic 
demonstration  on  the  steamer's  arrival,  and  this 
was  carried  out  on  the  afternoon  of  Friday,  the 
1 3th  of  May  (Russian  date — May  1st),  a  bright, 
beautiful  day.  At  four  o'clock  a  flotilla  of  nine- 
teen steamers,  well  rilled  with  people,  sailed  out 
from  the  city  to  welcome  the  Conemaugh.  On  the 
Government  man-of-war  Strasch  were  His  Excel- 
lency General-Lieutenant  M.  A.  Sinowzeu,  the 
Governor  of  the  Province  of  Livonia,  and  his 
wife;  the  Vice-Governor;  the  resident  Consul  of 
the  United  States,  Niels  Peter  Bornholdt;  the 
Mayor  of  the  city  and  others  of  the  most  promi- 
nent officials,  together  with  many  ladies;  also  Count 
Andre  Bobrinskoy,  executive  of  the  Czarovitch 
Famine  Relief  Committee;  and  United  States 
Consul-General,  Dr.  J.  M.  Crawford.  The  mer- 
chants of  the  trade  guilds,  with  the  ladies  of  their 

15 


16  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

families,  accompanied  us  next  in  the  fleet  upon  a 
large  side-wheel  steamer  from  whose  deck  a  fine 
military  band  discoursed  enlivening  music.  The 
cheers  of  the  multitude  on  these  steamers,  the 
booming  of  cannon  and  the  discharge  of  rockets 
signalized  our  approach  to  the  Conemaugh's  broad- 
sides. The  visitors  on  the  Government  steamer 
being  invited  to  board  the  ship,  a  brief  but  very 
impressive  ceremony  took  place  in  the  cabin. 
Following  a  welcoming  speech  by  Captain  Spencer, 
a  Russian  gentleman  representing  the  Associated 
Societies  of  Riga,  addressing  the  Captain,  pre- 
sented the  customary  offering  of  bread  and  salt  on  a 
silver  platter  in  testimony  of  their  loving  welcome. 
Then  addressing  me,  as  commissioner  from  America, 
he  presented  me  with  a  beautiful  album  of  photo- 
graphic views  of  Riga  with  the  following  appro- 
priate inscriptions  engraved  upon  its  silver  covers. 
On  the  front  cover: 


From  the  Committee  of  the  Russian  Society  of 
Riga,  to  the  representative  of  the  friendship  of  the 
American  people  to  Russia  as  a  token  of  remembrance 
and  gratitude  for  the  brotherly  gift  to  the  sufferers 
from  the  failure  of  the  crops,  sent  on  S.  S.  Conemaugh. 

RIGA,  May,  1892. 


RIGA'S  GRAND  WELCOME  17 

On  the  reverse  side: 

"The  Beehive"  Stock  Company, 

The  Poet  of  the  Glee  Club  of  The  Artisans'  Aid 

Society, 

The  Combmakers'  Beneficial  Club, 
"Lado"  Literary  and  Musical  Society, 
The  Literary  Circle, 
Lovers  of  Sacred  Songs, 
The  Nicolas  Merchants'  Society, 
The  Society  Club, 
Society  of  Russian  Physicians, 
Society  of  Mercantile  Salesmen, 
The  Porters  of  Peter  and  Paul, 
The  Editors  of  Riga  Courier, 
The  Artisan  Company, 
Third  Society  of  Mutual  Credit. 

As  briefly  as  possible  I  now  summarize  some  of 
the  events  of  a  complimentary  character  during 
my  stay  in  Riga.  There  and  in  St.  Petersburg 
ladies  of  the  nobility  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other 
in  tendering  their  social  hospitality. 

There  was  a  dinner  at  the  Riga  castle,  given  by 
the  Governor,  at  which  about  thirty  were  present. 
Another  given  by  the  Mayor  of  the  city  at  his 
residence,  about  forty  being  present.  A  third, 
when  seventy  sat  at  the  table,  was  given  by  United 
States  Consul  Bornholdt  at  the  Kurhaas,  Debbe- 


i8  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

len,  on  the  seashore.  At  all  these  entertainments 
ladies  graced  the  scene.  There  were  teas  and 
lunches  within  the  home  circles  of  ladies  promi- 
nently identified  with  the  famine  relief  work.  At 
one  of  these,  only  typical  Russian  dishes  were 
served.  A  serenade  was  given  at  my  hotel,  the 
De  Rome,  Saturday  night,  the  Riga  Chorus  Club 
of  one  hundred  men  singing  the  national  hymns 
of  their  country  and  ours.  At  this  time  a  thousand 
men  and  women  thronged  the  wide,  open  square 
facing  the  hotel  that  it  might  be  understood  by  the 
representative  of  the  givers  of  the  Conemaugh's 
cargo  that  all  the  people  united  in  the  welcome  and 
in  the  national  thanksgiving  for  the  benevolence 
that  prompted  the  gift.  At  all  these  assemblies 
were  uttered  the  strongest  possible  expressions  of 
Russia's  gratitude  to  their  American  friends. 

On  Sunday  morning,  accompanied  by  the 
Mayor  of  Riga  and  the  Captain  of  the  Cone- 
maugh,  I  visited  several  clubs  and  churches, — first 
the  Lutheran  Church  of  St.  John,  the  largest  in  the 
city,  erected  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Here  the 
Sunday  School  was  in  session.  Forty  to  fifty  small 
boys  and  girls  stood  in  parted  ranks, — boys  bow- 
ing, girls  courtesy  ing  as  the  visitors  passed 


•MB? 


O 


"*  *    ' 


RIGA'S  GRAND  WELCOME  19 

through.  Having  evinced  an  interest  in  the  school, 
I  was  presented  the  next  day  with  a  copy  of 
selections  from  the  rules  of  the  Girl  Sunday  School, 
Curatorium : 

Pi .  The  aim  of  the  Curatorium  is  to  help  the  poorest 
girls  to  visit  the  school  by  giving  them  clothes, 
boots,  etc. 

P2.  The  Curatorium  consists  of  an  unlimited  number 
of  persons  both  male  and  female  of  any  religion, 
state  &  position  in  life. 

?3.  There  are  three  kinds  of  members;  honourable, 
actual  &  fellow  labourers.  Honourable  members 
have  to  pay  10  roubles  a  year,  or  100  r.  once  for 
all  time;  actual  members — 3  r.  a  year  &  fellow 
labourers  are  especially  school-teachers. 

?4.  The  means  of  the  Curatorium  is  formed  of 
members'  yearly  payments  &  of  voluntary 
offerings  of  members  of  the  society  &  as  well  of 
persons  not  belonging  to  it. 

P5-  The  management  &  the  direction  of  the  affairs 
of  the  Curatorium  fall  upon :  the  Administration 
of  the  Curatorium  &  the  general  assembly  of 
members. 

P6.  All  the  members  of  the  Administration  work 
gratuitously. 

This  document  is  an  indication  that  the  Sunday 
School  in  Russia  has  not  advanced  beyond  the 
original  established  by  Ludwig  Hecker  in  Ephrata, 


20  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

Penna.,  in  1739,  and  adopted  by  Robert  Raikes 
in  Gloucester,  England,  in  1781.  A  few  days  later, 
I  received  the  following  note: 

Miss  Nathalie  Mansouroff,  President  of  the  Sunday 
Girls'  School  Curatorium  in  Riga,  requests  the  honour 
of  calling  Mr.  Francis  B.  Reeves  its  honourable  mem- 
ber, knowing  his  sympathy  and  noble  activity  for  th<? 
mentioned  schools  in  America. 

RIGA,  May,  the  5th,  1892. 
1 7th 

The  Merchants'  Guild,  whose  stately,  pictur- 
esque building  was  erected  in  the  year  1353  and 
rebuilt  five  hundred  years  later,  was  next  visited. 
Upon  presentation  to  the  President  and  Directors, 
who  were  convened  as  a  reception  committee,  a 
large  silver  "loving-cup"  was  offered  in  token  of 
welcome;  the  President  first  touching  his  lips  to 
the  wine,  the  guests  next  being  served,  and  then 
the  gentlemen  of  the  Committee. 

The  next  entertainment  was  furnished  by  a 
men's  club  named  the  "Black  Heads,"  where  the 
ceremony  of  the  "loving-cup"  was  likewise  the 
token  of  welcome.  Here  was  exhibited  a  marvel- 
lous collection  of  snuff  boxes,  the  accumulation  of 
ages,  and  a  magnificent  array  of  silver  antiques, 


o 


o 

>> 

.a 


RIGA'S  GRAND  WELCOME  21 

of  which  photographic  representations  and  de- 
scriptions in  book  form  were  presented  to  me.  In 
conversing  with  a  member  of  the  club  I  asked  him 
the  meaning  of  the  club's  name.  Not  being  well 
versed  in  English  he  said,  "It  is  a  widowers'  club." 
Expressing  my  surprise  that  so  many  young  men 
had  lost  their  wives,  he  said  that  they  had  never 
had  wives.  Then,  in  answer  to  a  question,  I  said 
that  we  in  America  would  call  it  "The  Bachelors' 
Club." 

Among  the  educated  classes  of  Russia  the  speak- 
ing of  French  and  English  as  well  as  their  native 
tongue  is  not  unusual.  As  I  understood  only  our 
native  language,  care  was  kindly  taken  on  all 
occasions  to  keep  me  in  touch  with  English- 
speaking  Russians.  It  would  be  well  for  students 
in  our  colleges  to  acquire  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage of  other  nations,  particularly  those  scholars 
who  may  become  foreign  missionaries  or  who  may 
contemplate  a  business  vocation  in  the  line  of 
development  of  American  commerce. 

Mr.  Fraser,  in  his  book  Russia  of  To-Day,  says: 

It  is  a  punishable  sin  to  speak  German  within  the 
Russian  Empire.  It  is,  however,  the  keen  ambition 
of  every  young  Russian  lad  and  girl  to  speak  English. 


22  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

All  through  the  winter  of  1914-15  anybody  who  could 
give  lessons  in  English  was  at  a  premium.  Humble 
teachers,  who  had  formerly  struggled  with  adversity, 
found  they  were  earning  £20  a  month.  The  stock  of 
English  primers  gave  out,  and  I  fancy  that  for  my 
little  Russo-English  dictionary  I  could  have  got  its 
weight  in — well,  in  one-rouble  paper  notes.  Russian- 
English  clerks  and  typists  are  in  the  heyday  of  pros- 
perity. They  have  not  to  seek  jobs;  they  are  woo'd  to 
work.  A  year  ago  all  the  boys  who  intended  to  go 
into  business  learnt  German  at  school.  That  is  now 
the  forbidden  tongue,  but  parents  have  presented  a 
petition  to  the  education  authorities  praying  that 
English  be  substituted.  English  is  on  the  boom. 

In  the  afternoon,  by  written  invitation,  I  was  the 
guest  of  "The  Ladies'  Circle  of  Riga, "  a  company 
of  honourable  ladies  actively  engaged  in  the  relief 
work.  As  we  sat  at  tea  I  was  asked  to  tell  the 
story  of  how  we  came  to  think  of  them  and  to  do 
so  grandly  for  them  in  America,  and  especially  to 
give  an  account  of  the  methods  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Committee.  Among  the  very  appreciative 
responses  that  were  made  was  the  reading  of  two 
original  poems, — one  by  Madame  Marionella 
Philadelfena  Maximovitch,  the  handsome  wife  of 
Innovkentie  Klavdievich  Maximovitch,  President 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Province  of 


The  House  of  The  Black  Heads  Club,  Riga. 


RIGA'S  GRAND  WELCOME  23 

Livonia,  in  the  Russian  language;  the  other  by 
Madame  de  Woehrmann,  nee  Princess  Mary 
Ourousoff ,  in  English.  The  next  day  these  verses 
were  presented  to  me  tastefully  printed  in  both 
these  languages  and  enclosed  in  a  cover  of  satin, 
representing  on  one  side  the  flag  of  their  country 
and  on  the  other  side  our  American  flag. 

POEM   BY  MADAME  MAXIMOVITCH 

In  your  distant,  happy  land 

You  have  heard  of  our  need, 
And  you  send  a  helping  hand, 

Friends  in  sorrow,  friends  in  deed. 

On  the  waves  of  the  vast  ocean 

Came  the  news  of  hungry  peasants; 

The  Indiana,  swift  of  motion 

You  then  sent  us  with  your  presents. 

Worse  than  wind  and  storm  and  rain 

Is  the  famine's  cruel  sting, 
And  the  help  out  of  this  pain 

The  Missouri  was  to  bring. 

But  a  new  act  of  your  friendship, 

Of  such  tender,  deep  import, 
Is  this  third  and  noble  steamship, 

Conemaugh,  now  in  our  port. 


24  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

Oh,  believe  me,  seeds  of  kindness! 

We  shall  reap  from  what  she  brought ; 
If  you  call  us,  touched  by  sadness, 

You  shall  have  our  every  thought. 

We  shall  share  with  you  each  sorrow, 

By  you  we  shall  always  stand, 
But  we  wish  a  bright  to-morrow 

To  each  day  in  your  bright  land. 

From  a  woman's  unskilled  pen 

Please  accept  these  humble  greetings, 

And  believe  that  all  our  men, 

That  all  Russia,  share  these  feelings. 

At  Chicago  we'll  be  meeting 
There  the  goblet  we  shall  raise, 

With  the  world  at  large  repeating 
Your  so  well-deserved  praise. 

May  the  thanks  and  all  the  blessing, 

Which  we  call  on  you  to-day, 
Like  the  sunlight,  warm,  caressing, 

Always  lie  upon  your  way. 

First  in  every  grand  endeavour, 

First  in  work  of  every  kind, 
May  you  thrive  and  prosper  ever, 

Model  to  all  human  kind. 

The  other  poem,  composed  in  English  by  Made- 
moiselle Olga  de  Woehnnann,  equally  expressive 


RIGA'S  GRAND  WELCOME  25 

of  the  warmth  of  the  woman-heart  of  Russia,  is  as 
follows: 

Welcome,  brothers,  come  in  friendship 

From  the  land  of  noble  deeds ! 
Welcome,  Conemaugh,  noble  steamship 

Come  to  help  us  in  our  needs. 

By  what  words  of  friendly  greeting 

Can  I  say  all  that  I  feel 
Overjoyed  at  this  glad  meeting, 

Brothers,  friends,  so  true  and  real ! 

Thinking  kindly  of  our  peasants, 
You  have  come  across  the  deep; 

From  your  rich  and  welcome  presents 
What  a  harvest  we  shall  reap ! 

For  the  seeds  brought  in  such  kindness 
Must  bring  forth  much  that  is  grand ; 

Let  us  thank  you  in  our  gladness, 
Welcome!  Welcome  to  our  land. 

t- 

Russia's  brotherly  devotion 

Will  reward  you  for  this  hour, 
Love  is  deeper  than  the  ocean 

And  as  boundless  in  its  power. 

Shortly  after  my  return  to  Philadelphia  I 
received  a  letter  from  Mademoiselle  de  Woehr- 
mann,  the  closing  words  of  which  are  the  following : 


26  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

So  few  foreigners  have  been  able  to  understand 
Russians;  so  very  few  have  admitted  that  we  are  not 
the  savage  barbarians  we  are  generally  made  out  to 
be;  and  it  is  a  great  relief  to  read  truth  and  nothing 
but  truth  in  a  foreign  paper.  I  hope  you  will  keep 
your  promise  of  coming  over  to  St.  Petersburg  with 
Mrs.  and  Miss  Reeves  and  that  I  shall  have  the  pleas- 
ure of  welcoming  them  and  you  at  Moshkoff  Person- 
lok.  With  many  thanks  and  kind  regards,  believe 
me,  yours  sincerely, 

OLGA  DE  WOEHRMANN. 
June,  1892. 

We  have  misunderstood  Russians  because  we 
have  not  known  them.  We  have  not  known  them 
because  the  opportunity  has  not  come  to  many  of 
us  at  first-hand,  but  often  from  unreliable  sources. 
Since  my  return  from  that  country  I  have  nailed  a 
number  of  falsehoods  about  the  Russians  that 
have  been  going  the  rounds  of  our  newspapers. 

Our  Government  may  go  along  for  another 
century  before  claiming  perfection.  This  applies 
not  only  to  National  but  also  to  our  State, 
County,  and  Municipal  affairs.  "Let  him  that 
is  without  sin  among  you,  first  cast  a  stone  at" — 
Russia. 

Russia  loves  America  and  America  loves  Russia, 


From  Left  to  Right:  U.  S.  Consul  Xiels  Peter  Bornholdt,  Captain  Spencer  of 
S.  S.Conemaugh,  U.  S.  Consul-General  Dr.  Crawford,  Francis  B.  Reeves. 


RIGA'S  GRAND  WELCOME  27 

and  we  say  to  her,  "  Peace  be  within  thy  walk  and 
prosperity  within  thy  palaces. " 

A    RUSSIAN  S    TRIBUTE    IN    VERSE    TO    COLUMBIA'S 
HELPING  HAND 

In  addition  to  the  souvenir  received  by  Mayor 
Stuart  of  Philadelphia  from  the  Ladies'  Circle  of 
Riga,  his  Honour  has  in  his  possession  some  poetry 
forwarded  by  Michael  A.  Scherbinin,  of  Rublevka, 
Poltava  Government,  Russia,  "with  the  author's 
most  sincere  and  most  respectful  regards."  The 
ode  follows: 

To  Our  Neighbour 

Which  of  these  three,  thinkest  thou,  proved  neigh- 
bour unto  him  that  fell  among  the  robbers?  And  he 
said;  He  that  showed  mercy  on  him. 

LUKE  x,  36-37. 

Thou  say'st  it  is  by  obligation 

For  service  rendered  in  the  past 
That  thou  art  succouring  our  nation 

In  time  of  dearth  and  deadly  blast. 

Well,  be  it  so !    But  Lord,  defender, 
Was  blaf-weard  in  thy  tongue  of  old. 

In  modern  English  this  to  render 
It  meant  bread-keeper,  we  are  told. 


28  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

To-day,  in  God's  predestination, 
By  succour  brought  in  time  of  need, 

Thou  art  the  blaf-weard  of  our  nation, 
A  brother  and  a  friend  indeed. 

Be  welcome,  sympathizing  brother! 

And  welcome  be  thy  noble  band, 
Who  wrought  with  one  accord  together 

To  forward  help  by  sea  and  land ! 

The  deed  forbodes  that  blessed  morning 
When  wars  and  enmity  shall  cease, 

And  when  all  nations  are  adorning 

The  throne  of  Christ,  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

From  Bering  Strait  to  Louisiana 

Our  heart  is  on  thy  welfare  set : 
Missouri,  Conemaugh,  Indiana 

A  Russian  never  shall  forget. 

And  while  the  Tynehead  we  are  meeting 
With  cargo  brought  by  woman's  care, 

Iowa's  daughters  we  are  greeting, 

Whose  thought  our  hearts  enshrined  will  bear. 

To  us  thy  sympathy  is  dearer 
Than  gold,  or  silver  richly  spread, 

Stretch  out  thy  hand!    We  must  draw  nearer, 
One  path  of  equity  to  tread. 

Thy  welfare  as  our  own  esteeming, 
What  know  we  of  our  coming  fate? 


RIGA'S  GRAND  WELCOME  29 

We  only  know,  what  God  is  scheming 
Shall  be  both  lasting,  strong  and  great. 

Two  things  thy  banner  has  bespoken 

As  stars  involve  a  two-fold  sense: 
Of  Heaven's  realm  they  are  a  token, 

A  symbol  of  God's  providence. 

The  wonders  of  God's  grace  confessing, 

We  praise  the  Giver  of  all  bread. 
May  His  reward  and  fullest  blessing 

Be  poured  upon  Columbia's  head! 

All  hail  Columbia,  land  fraternal ! 

Long  live  the  Emperor  of  our  land, 
And  on  the  base  of  truth  eternal 

May  their  dominions  firmly  stand! 

MICHAEL  A.  SCHERBININ. 
June  8,  1892. 


IV 
A  Religious  Service 

As  Loaded  Trains  Start  for  tHe  Famine- 
StricKen  Districts 

THE  starting  of  the  first  trains  loaded  with 
flour  from  the  Conemaugh,  destined  for  the  far- 
away starving  peasants,  was  celebrated  the  morning 
after  the  welcome  in  the  harbour,  at  Muhlgraben, 
seven  miles  from  the  city,  whither  I  was  conveyed 
by  special  train  with  the  Governor  and  other 
high  officials  with  their  wives  and  daughters. 
The  Governor's  private  car  contained  two  rooms 
with  chairs  and  sofas  of  blue  satin  and  gold.  Here 
again  a  great  throng  of  people  assembled  to  wit- 
ness the  demonstration.  Two  trains  of  thirty-six 
Russian  cars  each  stood  there,  their  locomotives, 
fired  with  wood,  with  steam  up,  gaily  decorated 
with  the  flags  of  Russia  and  the  United  States  in- 
tertwined. The  officers  of  the  Conemaugh  were 
present  in  their  official  uniform. 

30 


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A  RELIGIOUS  SERVICE  31 

A  temporary  structure  had  been  erected  and 
improvised  as  a  church.  It  was  completely  cov- 
ered with  bunting  of  the  national  colours,  our  own 
stars  and  stripes  prominently  figuring  in  the  grace- 
ful drapery.  (See  illustration.) 

Here  an  hour's  religious  service  was  held.  The 
gold-mitred  Bishop  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church 
in  the  Province  of  Livonia  officiated  and  made  an 
address,  which,  though  brief,  was  filled  to  the 
brim  with  grateful  and  earnest  Christian  sentiment. 
By  request  of  the  Bishop,  our  Consul-General,  Dr. 
Crawford,  translated  and  repeated  the  address  in 
English.  This  is  the  translation: 

In  the  name  of  the  Russian  Orthodox  Church  we 
greet  you,  our  American  brethren,  and  bid  you  a 
hearty  welcome  to  the  shores  of  our  Empire,  and  in 
evangelical  love  we  pray  that  the  blessings  of  God  may 
descend  in  abundance  upon  you  and  upon  your  fellow- 
citizens.  It  is  that  divine  love  which  Jesus  Christ 
preached  to  us, — the  love  that  knowing  no  difference 
between  nations,  or  religions,  or  individuals,  has 
brought  you  here.  It  is  that  love  that  is  not  stayed 
by  difficulties  nor  by  vast  distances;  that  love  that 
overcomes  all  obstacles  and  brings  succour  to  all  that 
are  in  need ;  it  is  that  Christian  brotherly  love  that  has 
led  you  across  the  great  ocean  and  over  the  inland  seas 
which  separate  your  country  from  ours  that  you  may 


32  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

bring  food  to  our  people  who  are  in  hunger  and  have 
no  bread.  We  offer  with  all  our  heart  our  prayer  to 
God  that  you  and  your  compatriots  may,  among  other 
great  blessings,  every  season  enjoy  bountiful  harvests. 
May  God  give  you  a  pleasant  sojourn  here,  and  guide 
you  safely  home  to  your  beloved  land  of  philanthropy, 
prosperity,  and  happiness. 

Notwithstanding  the  beautiful  Christian  spirit 
of  that  Bishop's  address,  I  cannot  refrain  from 
quoting  the  following  from  a  letter  by  Com- 
missioner Blankenburg  to  the  Philadephia  Times, 
March,  1892. 

It  seems  that  the  Russian  Church  has  for  its  found- 
ation stone  wretchedness,  ignorance,  and  superstition; 
that  to  remove  them  would  be  to  endanger  the  great 
influence  and  absolute  control  which  the  priests  now 
wield.  We  see  an  object  lesson  of  this  statement  on 
every  side;  look  at  the  villages  with  their  miserable 
huts,  abodes  not  fit  for  even  cattle  to  live  in;  their 
dirty  streets,  wretchedness  unspeakable,  and  then 
behold — the  magnificent  church  building  that  rears  its 
proud  steeples  and  fine  cupolas  in  the  midst  of  squalor 
and  want.  The  cost  of  all  the  huts  and  abodes  in  many 
of  these  villages — and  almost  every  one  has  a  church — 
cannot  nearly  approximate  the  cost  of  the  church  build- 
ing alone !  If  the  priests  would  devote  but  one-half 
of  their  labours  to  the  furtherance  of  the  things  of  this 
world  and  the  other  half  to  that  of  the  world  to  come, 


A  RELIGIOUS  SERVICE  33 

they  would  confer  an  inestimable  blessing  on  their 
people,  though  they  might  lose  some  of  the  power  they 
now  wield.  Better  yet,  make  school-masters  of  nine 
out  of  ten  priests,  or  if  they  are  not  willing  to  change 
their  vocation  send  enlightened  schoolmasters  abroad, 
separate  church  and  state  and  a  wonderful  change 
will  soon  be  wrought. 

An  intelligent  Russian,  who,  as  most  of  the  intelli- 
gent ones  do,  spoke  French,  told  me  that  the  wealth  of 
the  Russian  Church  is  almost  incalculable;  that  it 
could  pay  the  Russian  national  debt  (some  $3,500,000,- 
ooo)  and  would  then  be  enormously  wealthy.  Yet 
this  same  church  has  hardly  been  heard  of  during 
the  great  distress  prevalent  in  so  many  provinces;  no 
soup  kitchens  have  been  opened  by  it ;  no  contributions 
given.  It  seems  bent  only  upon  saving  souls  for  the 
world  to  come  and  upon  laying  up  for  itself  the  riches 
of  this  world. 

The  Bishop  having  presented  the  jewelled  cross 
to  the  Americans  present  to  be  kissed,  and  that 
ceremony  having  been  performed,  the  service  was 
concluded  with  chanting  and  songs  of  praise  by  a 
fine  male  double-quartette,  and  the  last  nine  bags 
of  flour  required  to  complete  the  train  load  were 
put  on  board,  each  of  the  following  named  persons 
carrying  one  bag  to  the  car:  Count  Andre  Bobrin- 
skoy;  the  Governor  of  the  Province;  the  Mayor 
of  the  City;  the  City  Prefect;  the  Director-General 


34  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

of  the  Railways;  the  Chief  of  the  Customs;  the 
Resident  Consul  of  the  United  States;  the  Consul- 
General,  and  your  Commissioner.  Then  the  train 
sped  away  on  its  errand  of  mercy  amid  the  cheers 
of  the  populace.  Under  government  direction 
trains  carrying  food  supplies  were  given  right  of 
way,  sometimes  causing  half  a  day's  stoppage  of 
passenger  cars. 

One  train  of  cars  was  sent  for  distribution  among 
fifteen  districts,  among  which  were  the  following, 
the  names  of  distributing  agents  appended: 

Government  of  Orel Prince  Kurakin 

Government  of  Simbursk,  St.  Vevuline Mr.  Rodionof 

Government  of  Nishni  Novgorod,  St.  Sviashsk . . .  Mrs.  Masloff 

Government  of  Saratof ,  St.  Atkarsk Mr.  Shidlovsky 

Government  of  Tamboff,  St.  Fitkingoff Mrs.  Bostrom 

Government  of  Tamboff,  St.  Tokahevka Mrs.  Plahovo 

Government  of  Tamboff,  St.  Morshansk Princess  Sagarin 

Government  of  Saratoff ,  St.  Saltikovka Mrs.  Saburoff 

Government  of  Orel,  St.  Babarakine Mrs.  S.  Pizareff 

Government  of  Skopino;  to  Count  Leo  Tolstoy. 

I  would  direct  attention  to  some  facts  bearing 
upon  the  locality  and  the  extent  of  territory 
affected  by  the  famine,  the  measures  of  relief 
administered  by  the  government  and  people  of 
Russia,  as  well  as  that  given  by  our  own  people  and 
others,  and  will  briefly  refer  to  the  causes  of  the 


DESTITUTION  AND  RELIEF  35 

great  calamity.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the 
Russian  Empire,  with  a  population  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty  millions,  embraces  more  than  half  of 
Europe  and  one-third  of  Asia,  an  area  of  8,647,- 
657  square  miles,  nearly  three  times  greater  than 
the  United  States  of  America,  exclusive  of  Alaska, 
or  one-seventh  of  the  land  surface  of  the  globe, 
and  that  European  Russia  alone  contains  a  popu- 
lation in  the  fifty  provinces  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  millions,  of  whom  about  half  are  of  the 
dependent  peasant  class,  one  may  begin  to  realize 
something  of  the  difficulties  and  the  dangers  that 
beset  the  way  of  the  one  man  ordained,  by  the  law 
of  an  hereditary  monarchy,  to  govern  and  sustain 
so  vast  c.  realm.  I  wonder  no  longer  that,  for  se- 
ditious utterances  or  privy  conspiracy,  thousands 
have  been  banished  to  Siberia  in  order  that  peace 
may  be  insured  to  the  millions;  I  only  wonder  that 
so  much  sentiment  and  sympathy  have  been 
lavished  in  our  land  upon  the  said  political  exiles, 
with  none  whatever  for  the  true  man  at  the  helm, 
at  that  time  Alexander  III.,  who,  I  believe,  would 
have  sacrificed  his  life  any  day  for  the  safety  of  the 
great  Ship  of  State  and  the  happiness  of  his  sub- 
jects. 


36  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

On  New  Year's  Day,  1893,  the  Czar,  Czarina, 
and  the  Czarevitch  held  a  grand  New  Year's 
reception  at  Gatchin.  After  it  was  over,  the 
Czar,  with  his  head  bared,  and  in  the  presence  of 
a  thousand  of  the  populace,  blessed  the  Neva. 

At  a  later  discussion  on  the  matter  of  a  dis- 
tinctive title  for  the  Emperor,  a  courtier  pro- 
posed that,  "as  the  father  was  known  as  the 
Liberator,  the  Czar  should  be  named  Alexander 
the  Just. " 

"Oh,  no!"  the  Czar  exclaimed,  "I  am  and  shall 
remain  the  Peasant  Emperor.  Some  of  my 
nobility  style  me  so  in  derision,  scoffing  at  my 
affection  for  the  Moujick,  but  I  accept  the  title 
as  an  honour.  I  have  tried  to  procure  for  the 
humble  a  means  of  livelihood,  and  this  I  think  is 
the  best  and  only  means  of  keeping  the  world 
going." 

Ode  to  the  Emperor  Alexander  III. 

For  the  great  good  heart  that  holds  thee 
Firm  and  strong  in  love's  straight  road; 

For  the  wonders  of  thy  purpose 
To  help  bear  the  peasant's  load; 

For  thy  brainy  power  that  governs 
Thy  vast  empire's  wide  domain, 


DESTITUTION  AND  RELIEF  37 

All  the  world  will  rise  to  laud  thee 
And  extol  thy  noble  reign. 

F.  B.  R.,  1893. 

The  territory  covered  by  the  relief  work  of  the 
Russian  government  and  organized  private  phi- 
lanthropy embraced  seventeen  governments  or 
provinces  with  a  population  of  thirty-six  millions. 
Of  these,  more  than  half,  or  about  twenty  millions, 
were  as  destitute  of  subsistence  as  was  the  widow  of 
Sarepta  at  the  time  of  the  prophet  Elijah's  oppor- 
tune visit  at  her  house.  The  Russian  peasant  was 
in  a  far  worse  plight,  however,  for  whereas  the 
widow  faced  starvation  only  for  herself  and  one 
son,  there,  over  every  threshold,  gaunt  famine 
stared  into  the  pale  emaciated  faces  of  a  score  or 
more  of  men,  women,  and  helpless  children,  and  no 
Elijah  was  there  to  work  a  miracle  upon  the  meal 
barrel  and  empty  oil  vessels. 

The  question  is  often  asked:  "What  caused 
the  wretched  destitution  of  the  Russian  peas- 
antry?" Of  the  various  theories  advanced  no 
single  one  seems  to  afford  an  adequate  explanation. 
The  popular  opinion  that  it  was  the  result  mainly 
of  the  drought  of  the  summer  of  1891,  when  the 


38  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

hot  east  winds  burned  up  everything,  is  only 
partially  correct.  For  several  years  preceding,  the 
same  conditions  prevailed  though  to  less  degree, 
so  that  the  poor  peasants,  disheartened  and 
impoverished,  were  unable  to  cope  with  the  grim 
destroyer  when  the  almost  total  failure  of  1891 
befell  them.  The  normal  state  of  these  people  is 
so  close  to  the  verge  of  starvation,  having  nothing 
laid  up  for  days  of  misfortune,  that  a  single  sea- 
son's crop  failure  absolutely  prostrates  them. 

The  loss  of  their  horses,  cows,  and  sheep,  through 
their  inability  to  feed  this  stock,  worked  a  double 
injury,  inasmuch  as  it  not  only  deprived  them  of 
the  assistance  of  these  animals  in  farm  work,  but 
also  of  the  manure  so  essentially  necessary  for 
maintaining  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  At  the  best 
of  times,  by  reason  of  insufficient  fertilizing,  the 
peasants  have  been  compelled  to  let  the  land  lie 
fallow  for  from  three  to  five  successive  years  to 
prevent  entire  exhaustion  of  the  soil.  Mr.  James 
Besant,  a  devoted  worker  for  relief  in  the  Province 
of  Samara,  said  the  loss  of  horses  was  immense 
and  the  death-rate  of  cattle  was  increasing,  so  that 
out  of  a  million  in  the  province  not  over  four  hund- 
red thousand  would  survive.  Most  of  the  unfortu- 


DESTITUTION  AND  RELIEF  39 

nate  peasants  were  without  cattle  and  had  not 
sufficient  seed  to  sow  their  fields,  and  had  nothing 
for  subsistence  until  the  next  harvest. 

The  Vyestnik  Yeoropy,  a  St.  Petersburg  periodi- 
cal of  March,  1892,  attributed  the  droughts,  which 
had  become  chronic,  to  the  destruction  of  the 
forests,  which  has  been  going  on  during  the  past 
fifty  years.  It  said : ' '  The  territory  drained  by  the 
Volga,  Don,  and  Dnieper  was  formerly  covered 
with  extensive  forests,  whose  deep  shades  preserved 
the  springs  from  exhaustion.  These  forests  have 
disappeared.  The  Don  is  being  gradually  choked 
with  sand  washed  down  from  the  desolated  forest 
tracts."  The  writer  concluded  therefrom  that 
the  prevailing  unfortunate  conditions  were  the 
result  of  slowly  working  climatic  changes  and 
affirmed  that  no  thorough  attempt  had  been 
made  to  strike  at  the  root  of  the  difficulty.  The 
application  of  our  American  system  of  irrigation 
would  be  more  efficacious  than  hundreds  of  ship- 
loads of  food,  which  at  best  can  afford  only  tem- 
porary relief. 

A  Russian  count,  speaking  on  the  subject,  said : 

The  moral  and  physical  condition  of  the  peasantry 
has  greatly  deteriorated  since  their  emancipation  from 


40  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

serfdom  by  the  act  of  Alexander  the  Second,  thirty 
years  ago.  The  peasants  have  never  learned  how  to 
use  their  liberty,  aye,  slaves  yet  to  ignorance  and  a 
non-personal  machine-religion,  they  know  not  the 
meaning  of  the  word  liberty. 

A  writer  in  the  Contemporary  Review,  March, 
1892,  said:  "Bad  harvests  in  Russia  are  so  much  a 
matter  of  course  that  the  peasant  has  learned  to 
await  them  as  he  awaits  the  coming  of  the  tax 
gatherer."  The  taxes  then  were  of  three  kinds, 
imperial,  by  the  State,  which  includes  the  Ecclesi- 
astical rates ;  local,  by  the  Zemstvo,  and  communal 
by  the  village  Commune.  The  Zemstvo  is  a  kind 
of  local  administration  which  supplements  the 
action  of  the  rural  communes  and  takes  cognizance 
of  those  higher  public  wants  which  individual 
communes  cannot  satisfy.  The  principal  duties 
are  to  keep  the  roads  and  bridges  in  proper  repair, 
to  provide  means  of  conveyance  for  the  rural  police 
and  other  officials,  to  elect  Justices  of  the  Peace, 
to  look  after  primary  education  and  sanitary 
affairs,  to  watch  the  state  of  the  crops,  to  take 
measures  against  approaching  famine,  and  in  the 
event  of  famine  occurring  to  attend  to  the  admin- 
istration of  relief. 


DESTITUTION  AND  RELIEF  41 

Unhappily  the  feudal  system  held  the  farm-lands 
away  from  real  ownership  by  the  farmers.  This 
system,  which  of  old  prevailed  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
was  abolished  in  England  in  1660;  in  Scotland  in 
1747;  in  France  at  the  Revolution  of  1789;  in  Ger- 
many and  Austria  after  the  Revolution  of  1848-50. 

Now  the  stars  in  their  courses,  which  fought 
from  heaven  against  Sisera,  are  shining  so  brightly 
over  Russia  that  I  deem  it  safe  to  predict  that 
Russia  will  fall  in  line  with  these  other  nations  and 
feudalism  will  vanish  like  mist  before  the  morning 
sun. 

The  land  was  imposed  upon  every  family  under 
the  Emancipation  Law  in  quantity  proportionate 
with  the  number  of  males  in  the  household.  The 
land  dues  or  rent  was  required  to  be  paid  whether 
crops  grew  or  failed,  and  as  the  allotted  land  was 
not  more  than. enough  to  keep  the  women  of  the 
family  employed  in  the  cultivation,  the  men  had 
to  find  employment  elsewhere  or  become  a  burden 
upon  the  workers.  And  rarely  was  employment 
to  be  secured  on  any  terms.  When  it  could  be  had, 
it  was  only  at  wages  equalling  fifteen  to  twenty 
cents  per  day .  I  heard  of  men  working  the  entire 
summer  of  1891  for  eight  cents  per  day.  Russia's 


42  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

protective  tariff  has  not  availed,  as  in  the  United 
States,  to  build  up  manufacturing  industries. 
They  have  them  in  the  large  cities,  but  they  are 
very  few  in  comparison  with  the  population.  In 
the  villages  I  saw  none,  not  even  a  tinsmith,  black- 
smith, or  potter, — absolutely  nothing  in  the  indus- 
trial line  outside  of  their  primitive  farming.  And 
in  this  they  were  truly  antiquated.  Their  plow, 
called  a  soktra,  was  the  same  old  wooden  soil 
scratcher  that  was  in  use  a  thousand  years  ago. 
It  was  made  of  wood  with  a  little  sharp  spade- 
point  of  iron.  Against  all  modern  agricultural 
implements  and  labour-saving  machines  the  Rus- 
sian peasant  sets  his  face  like  flint.  Attempts  to 
introduce  them  have  been  met  with  determined 
resistance.  In  all  the  region  where  famine  pre- 
vailed I  saw  no  truck  patches,  vegetable  gardens, 
nor  fruit  trees,  nor  any  markets  nor  stores  for  the 
sale  of  the  products  of  these  necessities  for  com- 
fortable living. 

Thus  it  may  be  seen  that  the  sad  condition  of 
these  people  is  not  to  be  reckoned  solely  as  the 
result  of  a  single  year's  calamity  but  rather  as  the 
outcome  of  a  combination  of  evils  of  which  ignor- 
ance is  the  chief,  a  culmination  of  long-existing, 


DESTITUTION  AND  RELIEF  43 

unfortunate  conditions  connected  with  the  neces- 
sarily defective  political  economy  of  their  country, 
with  intoxication  and  with  their  religion, — a  curi- 
ous blending  of  Paganism  and  Christianity. 
Happily,  their  great  ruler  is  alive  to  a  sense  of  his 
serious  responsibilities;  the  higher  classes  are 
active  in  support  of  his  beneficent  measures  for 
their  relief,  and  the  people  of  our  favoured  land 
have  thrown  a  cheery  light  upon  the  dark  picture 
that  the  world  may  see  it  and  arise  to  lift  up  their 
fallen  brothers  and  sisters. 

It  would  seem  after  what  I  have  said,  as  though 
there  could  have  been  no  very  bright  side  to  life  in 
Russia  at  the  time  of  my  sojourn  there,  but  I 
assure  you  there  was  and  that  it  was  my  privilege 
to  see  it. 

The  total  grant  by  the  Russian  government  for 
food  and  seed-grain  in  1891  and  up  to  May  I,  1892, 
amounted  to  over  $150,000,000.  This  grant  was 
made  of  necessity  in  the  form  of  a  loan  to  the 
peasants,  it  being  wisely  regarded  as  incompatible 
with  the  stability  of  government  to  give  away 
money  absolutely  from  the  public  exchequer.  Of 
course  the  repayment  of  the  loan,  depending  solely 
upon  the  ability  of  the  borrowers  to  return  it 


44  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

from  the  products  of  future  good  crops,  was  a 
remote  possibility. 

In  addition  to  this  the  Emperor  gave  from  his 
private  purse  ten  million  dollars,  and  it  is  estimated 
that  the  prosperous  Russian  people  added  to  this 
fund  fifty  millions  more. 

The  Society  of  Friends  in  England  raised  a  fund 
of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  of  which  eight 
thousand  dollars  was  contributed  by  Philadelphia 
members  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  This  fund  was 
employed  in  relief  work  through  a  committee  of 
their  own. 

The  English  in  Moscow,  then  numbering  about 
800,  had  raised  a  distress  fund  with  the  assistance 
of  friends  in  England.  These  funds  they  had 
entrusted  to  the  Grand  Duchess  Elizabeth,  patron- 
ess of  the  Red  Cross  Society,  and  grand-daughter 
of  Queen  Victoria.  This  lady  had  taken  great 
interest  in  the  relief  of  the  famine  sufferers;  a 
bazaar,  which  she  had  arranged,  had  in  five  days 
netted  about  $45,000. 

The  money  value  of  the  supplies  sent  from 
Philadelphia  and  money  given  directly  by  the 
Philadelphia  Relief  Committee  into  the  hands  of 
the  Committee  in  Russia,  for  purchase  of  food, 


DESTITUTION  AND  RELIEF  45 

seed-corn,  cattle,  fodder,  etc.,  may  be  stated  at 
three  hundred  and  fifty  to  four  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  Twenty  thousand  dollars  in  money  was 
taken  over  by  the  Indiana's  commissioners,  and 
ten  thousand  dollars  by  myself  for  purchase  of 
Russian  seed-grain ;  or  potatoes,  cattle,  or  for  other 
special  needs  such  as  might  be  made  known  upon 
the  spot.  From  the  United  States  five  cargoes  of 
flour  and  grain  and  provisions  were  sent, — first, 
the  Indiana  from  Philadelphia,  February  22nd, 
with  2500  tons  of  flour  and  other  provisions 
of  a  miscellaneous  character;  second,  the  Missouri, 
the  latter  part  of  March,  from  New  York  for  Libau 
with  about  2000  tons  of  flour  given  by  the  Min- 
nesota millers;  third,  the  Conemaugh,  April  23rd, 
from  Philadelphia  for  Riga  with  33,163  sacks  and 
516  barrels  of  flour,  400  sacks  of  rice  and  100 
packages  of  provisions;  fourth,  the  Tynehead,  in 
May,  from  New  York  for  Riga,  with  the  Red  Cross 
cargo  of  shelled  corn;  and,  fifth,  the  Leo,  in  June, 
from  New  York  for  St.  Petersburg  with  one- 
half  of  a  small  cargo  of  flour  given  by  our  country 
people  under  the  auspices  of  The  Christian  Her- 
ald, Dr.  Talmadge's  newspaper.  These  all  arrived 
safely  at  destination,  their  cargoes  being  in  good 


46  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

condition  on  discharge  excepting  that  of  the 
Tynehead,  the  Red  Cross  Indian  corn,  half  of 
which  had  fermented  and  was  cast  overboard.  It 
is  much  better  to  send  wheat  or  rye  than  Indian 
corn  to  feed  Russian  peasants.  They  have  little 
acquaintance  with  corn  and  know  but  little  of  the 
way  of  preparing  it  for  food.  Rye  is  their  main 
support.  The  wheat  flour  sent  from  America 
was  used  chiefly  in  admixture  with  rye,  supplied 
by  purchase  from  the  more  highly  favoured  sec- 
tions of  their  own  country.  A  Russian  nobleman 
told  me  that  all  the  flour  received  from  America 
was  of  most  excellent  quality. 


£ 
H 
«rf 


V 
From  Riga  to  St.  Petersburg 

THE  closing  incident  of  Riga's  hospitality  is 
worthy  of  note.  I  had  been  advised  to  make 
ready  to  go  to  the  railway  station  for  Petrograd, 
on  the  evening  of  my  departure,  an  hour  and  a  half 
before  the  train  was  to  start.  At  the  appointed 
hour,  a  troyka  sent  by  the  Governor,  three  fine 
horses  abreast,  stood  at  the  door  to  take  me  to  the 
station.  Over  the  well-paved  streets  of  the  city, 
out  into  the  suburbs,  our  team  dashed  away,  the 
middle  horse,  under  the  gilded  duga,  trotting  a 
square  eight-mile  gait,  the  outsiders  on  a  lively 
gallop.  The  driver  arrayed  in  dark  blue  frock, 
with  a  light  blue  silken  girdle,  scarlet  sleeves,  vel- 
vet cap  encircled  with  feathers,  and  driving  reins 
matching  his  girdle,  displayed  extraordinary  skill 
in  driving  his  steeds,  without  a  whip, — simply  by 
dexterous  manipulation  of  the  blue  ribbons  and 
an  occasional  kind  word.  Every  other  vehicle  on 
the  streets  took  to  the  curb  line  on  our  approach, 

47 


48  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

for  the  Governor's  carriage  holds  the  right  of  way 
in  the  middle  of  the  street  and  is  in  no  wise  re- 
stricted in  its  rate  of  speed.  A  circuit  of  seven 
miles  brought  us  up  at  the  railway  station,  the  once 
jet-black  horses  and  their  brilliant  trappings  now 
white  with  lather. 

At  the  station  were  assembled  thirty  to  forty 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  including  the  Governor  and 
his  wife, — indeed,  nearly  all  of  those  whose  kind 
attentions  had  been  unremitting  from  the  hour  of 
my  arrival.  Having  partaken  of  some  light  re- 
freshments, standing  at  a  table  spread  in  view 
of  the  waiting  train,  each  in  turn  bade  me  good- 
bye on  the  American  plan — a  hand-shake.  I 
subsequently  learned  by  experience  that  the  Rus- 
sian custom  includes  a  kiss, — at  least  on  the  part 
of  the  men. 

A  restful  night  in  a  comfortable  bed  in  one  of 
Russia's  admirable  compartment  cars  and  a  few 
bright  morning  hours  brought  me  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, Russia's  modern  capital,  great  in  wealth,  in 
culture,  art,  and  architecture,  worthy  to  be  cata- 
logued with  Paris,  Vienna,  Berlin,  London,  and 
Washington. 

We  all  know  about  the  change  of  name  from  St. 


IsrtT 
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48  RUSSIA  THEN  AMD  KOW 

The  Imperial  Family  of  Denmark  at  the  royal  celebration  of  the 
Golden  Wedding  of  King  Christian  IX.  and  Queen  Louise. 

The  august  royal  family  of  Denmark  cherish  the  happy  relation- 
ship (through  their  childferi)  with  Russia,  Greece,  Sweden,  and 
Great  Britain,  brought  us  up  at  the  railway  station,  t 

The  warm,  friendship,  has  always  prevailed  in  this  happy  family 
and  its  relation  to  other  royal  families. 

The  persons  appearing  on  the  picture  are  as  follows: 

1.  Olga  Constantinovna,  Queen   of  Greece,  with  l&ef°Grand 
Duchess  Olga  Alexandrovna.  'ie  Governo 

2.  Empress  of  Russia,  with  the  Dutch  Prince  Gerald. 

3.  Princess  Marie,  wife  of  Prince  Waldemar. 

4.  King  of  Greece,  George. 

5-  Grand  Duchess  Xenia  Alexandrovna. 

6.  Greek  Princess  Marie. 

7.  Prince  Cans  von  Gluksburg. 

8.  Grand  Duke  George  Alcxandrovitch. 

9.  Successor  to  the  throne,  Czar  Nicholas  of  Russia. 

10.  Prince  Waldemar.    Darned  by  «. 

11.  Emperor  of  Russia  (Alexander  III.). 

^  12.     Princess  of  Wales  (Alexandra,  the  elder  daughter  of  King 
Christian  and  Queen  Louise). 

13.     Prince^fltelm  von  Gluksburg. 

14-  Que^n  Louise  (Denmark).    )mpartment  cars  an< 

15-  Constantino,  then  successor  to  the  Greek  throne  and  the 
present  king. 

TA     -n  /^.uzc.  Russms. modern  capital,  great 

16.     Dutch  Princess  Louise. 

17-  King  of  Denmark,  Chris^S^ 

1 8.  Princess  Victoria.    Paris,  Vienna, 

19.  Greek  Prince  Nicholas. 

20.  Grand  Duke  (Russia)  Michael  Alexandrovitch. 


en 


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FROM  RIGA  TO  ST.  PETERSBURG       49 

Petersburg  to  Petrograd  in  1914,  and  the  reason, 
the  former  being  German  and  the  new  name 
Russian. 

In  St.  Petersburg,  as  in  Riga,  under  the  kindly 
care  of  Count  Andre  Bobrinskoy,  private  hospi- 
talities were  more  extended  than  could  be  accepted, 
for  I  had  determined  upon  devoting  my  limited 
time  chiefly  to  tours  through  some  of  the  famine- 
afflicted  provinces.  My  anticipated  pleasure  of 
shaking  hands  with  the  Czar  was  rendered  im- 
possible because  of  his  having  just  then  gone  to 
Copenhagen  with  the  Czarina  and  their  son, 
Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  to  join  in  the  celebration  of 
the  marriage  anniversary  of  the  parents  of  the 
Czarina,  the  King  and  Queen  of  Denmark.  A 
picture  of  the  group  assembled  at  that  celebration, 
presented  to  me,  may  be  seen  on  the  opposite  page. 

I  met  in  St.  Petersburg,  Dr.  Alexander  Francis, 
pastor  of  the  Anglo-American  Congregational 
Church  of  St.  Petersburg.  Early  in  the  autumn  of 
1891,  Dr.  Francis  spent  severaljweeks  in  the  famish- 
ing district  of  Taboff  where  the  suffering  was  most 
appalling.  He  told  me  that  in  one  village  not  a 
child  was  left  alive.  In  another  village  the  people 
had  used  up  every  board  in  the  making  of  coffins 


50  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

and  were  travelling  over  the    neighbourhood  to 
find  more. 

From  The  Evangelist  I  quote  as  follows : 

With  the  help  of  a  few  English  friends  residing  there, 
Dr.  Francis  organized  a  Relief  Committee,  whose 
members  made  a  house  to  house  examination  of  the 
condition  of  the  peasants  in  three  villages  and  a  care- 
ful estimate  of  what  it  would  cost  to  keep  these  villag- 
ers alive.  It  was  found  that  five  dollars  a  month, 
judiciously  expended  for  food,  if  carefully  distributed, 
would  keep  alive  eight  persons.  His  own  church  then 
undertook  to  save  400  people  from  death  by  starva- 
tion for  eight  months.  As  soon  as  tidings  of  what  Dr. 
Francis  was  doing  reached  this  country  through  pri- 
vate sources,  an  appeal  for  aid  in  extending  this  good 
work  of  his  church  was  made  in  the  columns  of  The 
Evangelist.  The  work  so  begun  rapidly  outgrew  its 
original  limits.  His  energy,  devotion  and  capacity  for 
organization  soon  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
Russian  Government,  and  every  facility  was  afforded 
him  for  the  prosecution  of  his  work. 

Hon.  Rudolph  Blankenburg,  1892,  wrote  the 
following  about  Dr.  Francis: 

It  is  but  just  to  say  here  that  much  credit  for  the 
good  work  done  is  due  to  the  Rev.  Alexander  Francis, 
Pastor  of  the  Anglo-American  Congregational  Church 


rt    ^ 

*-i      ^> 


Jf 

PH 


PL, 


FROM  RIGA  TO  ST.  PETERSBURG       51 


of  St.  Petersburg.  This  church  was  founded  about 
fifty  years  ago,  and  owes  its  existence,  in  a  measure, 
to  our  then  Minister,  James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, who,  after  vain  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  British 
Legation,  succeeded  in  getting  the  permission  to  build 
this  church  from  the  Emperor  Nicholas  I. 


VI 
From  Petrograd  to  Moscow 

FROM  Russia's  capital  my  next  journey  was  by 
rail  over  the  straightest  four  hundred  miles  of 
railroad  in  the  world,  to  the  Holy  City — Moscow. 
I  was  the  bearer  of  letters  enough  to  keep  me  there 
a  fortnight  and  to  open  to  me  every  place  of 
interest  in  the  city.  These  letters  were  to  the 
Grand  Duke  Sergius  Alexandrovitch,  brother  of 
the  Czar,  Governor  of  the  Province  of  Moscow; 
one  given  me  by  Princess  Troubetski  to  Madame 
Kostanda,  wife  of  the  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  military,  a  force  numbering  225,000  soldiers; 
to  Prince  Dologoroki;  to  Prince  Ourousow;  to 
His  Honour  the  Mayor  of  Moscow,  and  to  others. 
Under  escort  of  the  Secretary  to  the  Mayor  and 
his  business  partner,  both  Russians  with  a  good 
English  tongue,  I  was  enabled  to  see  the  Holy 
City  under  most  favourable  auspices. 

Time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  the  Kremlin  with 
52 


St.  Basil's  Cathedral,  Moscow,  Built  by  Ivan  the  Terrible. 


FROM  PETROGRAD  TO  MOSCOW        53 

its  eighteen  towers;  of  the  grandly  picturesque 
view  from  its  lofty  site;  of  the  Cathedral  containing 
the  venerated  tombs  of  martyrs,  saints,  and  czars; 
of  the  hundreds  of  churches  and  convents,  with 
their  domes  of  green  and  blue  and  gold,  with  their 
archaic  richly  decorated  icons;  of  the  holy  gate 
through  which  none  could  pass  with  covered  heads; 
of  the  surpassingly  magnificent  ancient  and  mod- 
ern palaces;  of  the  exhibition  of  antiquities;  of 
the  Tertiakoff  picture  gallery;  of  the  Patriarchs* 
treasury,  rich  in  jewelled  vestments;  of  the 
grievously  crooked  and  uneven  streets  with  their 
striking  contrasts  of  light  and  shadow;  of  Lazarus 
and  Dives  jostling  one  another  under  the  dome 
of  the  Cathedral  of  the  Archangel  Michael;  of  a 
hundred  weary  pilgrims,  men  and  women,  clad 
in  sheepskins  or  in  rags,  footsore  after  a  tramp  of 
weeks  to  some  favoured  shrine  in  the  Holy  City, 
now  at  nightfall,  asleep,  outstretched  upon  the 
cobblestones  in  the  byways  of  the  public  streets; 
of  the  institute  for  foundlings,  within  whose  walls 
are  17,000  mother-forsaken  infants.  These  words 
afford  but  the  merest  suggestion  of  what  may  be 
seen  in  Moscow  within  three  days.  Like  a  vision 
of  the  night  all  these  pass  before  me,  but,  unlike  a 


54  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

dream,  this  picture  will  stand  out  clear  while  life 
and  memory  endure. 

From  Moscow  to  Bogoroditsk  (English:  "The 
Mother  of  God")  in  the  Government  of  Tula, 
the  centre  of  one  of  the  distressed  districts,  is  a 
journey  of  a  night  and  half  a  day.  It  had  been 
arranged  with  young  Count  Paul  Bobrinskoy,  cou- 
sin of  Count  Andr6  Bobrinskoy  of  St.  Petersburg, 
that  he  should  take  this  journey  with  me,  follow- 
ing it  up  with  a  more  extended  tour  in  the  famine 
districts  of  Tula  and  Riazan.  At  Bogoroditsk, 
I  was  kindly  entertained  under  the  roof  of  the  old 
manor  house,  formerly  called  the  Palace  of  Cath- 
arine the  Second.  Here,  belonging  to  the  Bobrin- 
skoys,  who  are  descendants  of  one  of  Empress 
Catharine's  principal  advisers,  is  an  estate  cover- 
ing ten  thousand  acres,  embracing  several  villages, 
and,  until  the  distribution  of  land  was  made 
under  the  act  of  emancipation  of  Emperor  Alex- 
ander II.,  the  grandfather  of  the  present  Emperor, 
Nicholas  II.,  lawful  ownership  in  thirty  thousand 
serfs,  now  regarded  as  wards  by  the  owners  of  the 
estate. 

Catharine  II.,  known  as  "Catharine  the  Great, " 
was  born  in  1729;  she  was  Empress  of  Russia  from 


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FROM  PETROGRAD  TO  MOSCOW        55 

1762  to  1796,  when  she  died.  She  improved  the 
administration  of  the  Empire,  introduced  a  new 
code  of  laws,  and  encouraged  art  and  literature. 
She  has  been  called  "  the  Semiramis  of  the  North, " 
and  Voltaire  said,  with  reference  to  her,  "Light 
now  conies  from  the  North. " 

Rambaud,  in  his  History  of  Russia,  said  of  her: 
"No  sovereign  since  Ivan  the  Terrible  had  ex- 
tended the  frontiers  of  the  Empire  by  such  vast 
conquests.  She  had  given  Russia  for  boundaries 
the  Niemen,  the  Dniester,  and  the  Black  Sea." 

Tracing  the  lineage  of  their  hereditary  monarchy 
from  the  reign  of  Catharine  II.,  history  gives  us  the 
following  record: 


Paul  I.,  her  son,  born  1754,  was  enthroned  Emperor 
1796,  and  was  assassinated  1801. 

His  son,  Alexander  I.,  was  born  1777;  enthroned 
1 80 1,  and  died  1825. 

His  son,  Nicholas  I.,  born  1796,  when  his  father  was 
19  years  of  age,  enthroned  1825,  at  29  years  of  age, 
and  died  1855. 

His  son,  Alexander  II.,  was  born  1818;  enthroned 
1855;  emancipated  the  serfs  1861;  and  was  assassin- 
ated 1 88 1. 

His  son,  Alexander  III.,  was  born  1845.  He  mar- 
ried Princess  Dagmar,  daughter  of  the  King  of  Den- 


56  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

mark,  1866,  at  21  years  of  age.     He  died  November 
i,  1894. 

His  son,  Czar  Nicholas  II.,  was  born  May,  1868, 
enthroned  1894;  on  November  26,  1894,  he  married 
Princess  Alix  of  Hesse,  a  grand  duchy  and  state  of  the 
German  Empire.  She  is  a  granddaughter  of  Queen 
Victoria. 


Church  of  the  Ascension,  Petrograd,  Erected  as  Memorial  to  Czar 
Alexander  II.  who  was  Assassinated  on  this  Spot  March  i,  1881. 


VII 
Visiting  tKe  Poor  Peasants 

COUNT  PAUL'S  elder  brother,  Count  Vladimir 
Bobrinskoy,  head  of  the  Red  Cross  Association 
of  the  district,  was  in  charge  of  the  distribution 
for  the  relief  of  the  famine  sufferers,  and  as  Chief 
of  the  Zemstvo  he  directed  all  measures  for  govern- 
mental assistance.  United  in  constant  labours 
with  his  brothers  and  a  sister,  a  beautiful,  court- 
eous lady,  hospitals  and  soup  kitchens,  bakeries 
and  orphanages  were  maintained  throughout  the 
entire  district.  My  first  day  passed  in  visiting  as 
many  of  these  active  agencies  as  were  within  easy 
reach.  These  good  people  during  the  entire  winter 
had  been  feeding  and  clothing  their  peasants, 
ministering  to  their  sick  and  providing  for  the  dead 
and  dying  among  them,  and  for  a  long  time  they 
did  all  this  out  of  their  private  resources.  I  was 
shown  a  large  bakery,  in  which  good  rye  and 
wheat  loaves  were  being  baked  for  families  unable 
to  bake  for  themselves.  I  was  taken  to  a  children's 

57 


58  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

home,  a  little  orphanage,  where  there  were  forty 
children  all  under  eight  years  of  age.  Some  of  the 
parents  had  died  of  cold  and  hunger,  or  of  disease. 
This  nursery  was  under  the  constant  supervision 
of  Countess  Bobrinskoy.  Next  was  a  storehouse, 
where  the  American  wheat  flour  and  the  rye  flour 
purchased  with  government  money,  were  mixed 
together,  as  the  peasants  were  so  used  to  dark  rye 
bread  that  they  did  not  care  as  much  for  plain 
white  bread. 

Next  day,  with  Count  Vladimir  Bobrinskoy,  I 
was  taken  upon  his  official  monthly  house-to-house 
inspection  of  the  village  of  Tovorkova,  ten  miles 
distant.  Arriving  at  this  village  of  about  three 
hundred  straw-thatched  huts  and  five  thousand 
inhabitants,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  we 
first  secured  the  company  of  the  two  elders  of  the 
village.  Leaving  our  carriage  we  started  on  a 
tramp  afoot  through  black  mud,  going  from  door 
to  door  interviewing  the  head  of  each  family,  the 
Count  noting  in  a  book,  systematically,  the 
requirements  of  the  household  for  the  next 
monthly  distribution,  facts  as  to  the  number  now 
dependent,  how  many  at  work,  the  number  sick, 
if  any,  etc.  The  elders  were  supposed  to  give 


VISITING  THE  POOR  PEASANTS        59 

the  cue  if  any  doubt  existed  as  to  the  peasant's 
statement,  and  in  such  case  we  all  visited  the  barn, 
uncovered  the  meal  barrel  or  untied  the  bag  string 
that  we  might  see  for  ourselves  what  remained 
to  tide  the  family  over  to  the  next  distribution. 
In  every  case,  save  one,  we  found  the  pitiful  story 
only  too  true. 

The  condition  of  these  people  was  deplorably 
miserable.  In  their  earthen-covered  hovels  of 
two  rooms  lived  families  of  from  ten  to  forty 
human  beings  beside  cattle  of  the  ordinary  kind. 
Entering  one  house  in  which  lived  forty  people,  an 
aged  father  and  mother,  nine  sons  with  their  wives 
and  children,  I  was  met  just  within  the  door  by 
two  cows.  Opening  the  door  leading  into  the 
other  room  a  third  cow  challenged  my  progress  in 
that  direction.  She  had  been  called  into  the 
parlour  for  milking.  "Where  do  these  forty 
sleep  ?  "  I  inquired  of  the  Count.  The  ready  reply, 
applicable  to  all  such  peasant  dwellings,  was,  "In 
winter  on  the  brick  enclosure  of  the  oven  (which 
they  call  a  stove),  on  bunks  or  shelves  and  on  the 
floor;  in  summer,  in  the  barn  or  with  the  cows  in 
the  outer  room."  This  family,  the  Count  in- 
formed me,  had  never  asked  for  nor  re- 


60  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

ceived  outside  assistance;  they  were  accounted 
rich  peasants. 

Five  hours  were  required  for  this  inspection 
business  and  now  it  was  nine  o'clock.  Our  tramp 
ended  where  it  began,  at  the  abode  of  the  peasant 
Chief  Elder.  By  this  worthy  man  we  were  invited 
to  enter  and  partake  of  his  hospitality.  This  home 
differed  in  nothing  from  the  others  we  had  visited. 
His  family  comprised  twenty  persons.  The  elder's 
wife  and  five  sons  bade  us  welcome.  Three 
comely  young  women,  wives  of  as  many  of  the  sons, 
stood  within,  each  with  a  baby  in  her  arms.  A 
group  of  younger  children,  chickens  running  about 
the  floor,  and  two  pet  rooks,  comprised  the  family 
circle.  Three  little  heads,  with  half  a  dozen 
bright,  wondering  eyes,  looked  down  upon  us  from 
a  broad  shelf,  high  up,  two  or  three  feet  below  the 
roof,  where  they  had  been  put  to  bed.  The  table, 
a  single  board,  a  foot  and  a  half  by  four  feet,  in  a 
corner,  surrounded  by  rough  wooden  seats,  was 
quickly  spread  with  a  coarse  white  cover.  The 
samovar  was  brought  out,  a  charcoal  fire  kindled 
within  it,  a  draft  being  secured  by  connecting 
a  tin  pipe  between  it  and  the  stove ;  glass  tumblers 
for  the  tea  were  placed  before  us,  for  tea  is  always 


Copyright,  Underwood  &•  Underwood. 
Russian  Peasants  Making  Hay. 


V IS 1 TING  THE  POOR  PEASANTS       61 

served  in  glass  tumblers  in  Russia.  Then  the 
Count  chatted  with  the  party  in  their  native  lan- 
guage until  the  samovar  began  to  boil.  Besides  the 
tea, — which  was  excellent,  the  elder  placed  before 
us  a  small  bottle  of  vodka,  a  large  loaf  of  black 
bread,  a  dozen  hard-boiled  eggs,  and  four  salted 
cucumbers.  Having  eaten  nothing  for  ten  hours, 
I  had  begun  to  realize  the  dreadf  ulness  of  a  Russian 
famine. 

An  intimation  was  made  by  the  Count  that  we 
would  abuse  the  hospitality  of  our  host  if  we  would 
not  consume  about  all  that  he  had  provided,  so 
everything  vanished  saving  half  of  the  big  loaf. 

They  were  evidently  actuated  by  St.  Paul's 
counsel  to  the  Corinthians — "If  one  of  them  that 
believe  not  biddeth  you  to  a  feast,  and  ye  are  dis- 
posed to  go,  whatsoever  is  set  before  you,  eat, 
asking  no  question  for  conscience  sake. " 

It  was  several  days  before  I  recovered  wholly 
from  the  effects  of  my  share  of  the  meal, — four 
hard-boiled  eggs  and  a  cucumber.  And  this  was 
the  home  of  a  "rich  "  peasant, one  who, in  the  midst 
of  the  famine,  had  never  asked  for  help.  One  of 
the  daughters,  a  pretty  girl  of  sixteen  years,  con- 
trary to  the  custom  of  unmarried  women,  had  her 


62  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

hair  concealed  under  a  kerchief  which  the  Count 
asked  her  to  remove  that  I  might  see  her  hair. 
Blushfully  she  complied,  and  a  long  glossy  plait 
fell  to  her  waist.  The  girl's  object  in  wearing 
the  head  covering  was  supposedly  to  prepare  her- 
self for  the  time,  probably  very  near,  when,  being 
married,  it  would  be  a  shame  to  her  to  display 
nature's  lavish  head  adornment. 

In  most  Russian  villages  the  young  women  are 
not  allowed  to  choose  their  husbands.  The  par- 
ents do  this  for  them,  and  the  father  will  some- 
times take  up  with  the  first  one  that  happens  to  be 
recommended  to  him  by  a  neighbour  or  by  some 
one  who  has  done  him  a  favour,  or  is  in  a  position 
to  enable  him  to  befriend  him, — somewhat  after 
the  manner  that  little  offices  are  bestowed  in  our 
country  for  political  favours.  Their  daughters 
are  never  permitted  after  marriage  to  remain  at 
home,  but  invariably  go  to  live  with  the  hus- 
band's parents,  no  matter  how  numerous  their 
offspring,  until  the  couple  can  set  up  for  them- 
selves. 

The  following  references  to  Russian  weddings 
in  well-to-do  families,  I  quote  from  Hubbak's 
Russian  Realities : 


VISITING  THE  POOR  PEASANTS       63 

The  Russian  wedding  is  a  very  important  ceremony, 
which  may  be  performed  either  in  the  church  or  in  the 
house.  In  each  case  the  bride  and  bridegroom  are 
endued  with  crowns,  and  exchange  rings  during  the 
religious  celebration,  which  is  preceded  by  a  civil  mar- 
riage. The  custom — in  some  parts  of  Russia  at  least — 
is  for  the  bride  to  start  on  the  wedding  journey  in  white, 
and  it  is  quite  usual  to  see  the  whole  wedding  party  at 
the  station.  The  bride  wears  her  orange  blossoms 
and  carries  an  enormous  bouquet;  the  bridesmaids 
appear  in  the  most  taking  hats  they  can  command. 

The  first  to  enter  the  train  is  the  bridegroom,  who 
has  a  blue  frock-coat  with  brass  buttons  and  a  con- 
spicuous knot  of  white  ribbon.  When  he  has  in- 
spected the  location  in  the  train  he  rejoins  the  party, 
and  the  chief  bridesmaid  conducted  by  the  best  man, 
goes  in  to  verify  matters.  Then  the  bride  is  handed 
in  by  the  best  man,  and  the  whole  party  troop  after 
them.  The  conversation  is  continued  until  the  last 
moment,  but  neither  confetti  nor  rice  was  employed 
on  any  occasion  that  I  have  seen.  I  believe  that  the 
evening  is  the  favourite  time  for  weddings,  as  it  is  in 
many  other  countries. 

Concerning  the  guests  at  a  breakfast  he  says: 

Russian  meals  have  often  been  described,  but  the 
reality  is  none  the  less  interesting.  One  is  asked  to 
form  part  of  a  gathering  for  a  country  lunch,  or  break- 
fast, more  properly.  On  arrival  after  a  long  drive 
the  guests  are  set  down  to  an  apparently  sumptuous 


64  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

repast,  including  wine,  beer,  or  vodka  at  the  outset. 
When  everyone  has  finished,  the  hostess  asks  if  the 
party  would  like  to  spend  the  hour  before  the  ensuing 
breakfast  in  the  garden  or  on  a  stroll.  Then  one 
discovers  that  the  feast  just  ended  is  only  preliminary 
and  that  the  real  lunch  is  yet  to  come.  I  may  mention 
that  the  usual  form  among  Russians  is  to  thank  the 
hostess  at  the  end  of  the  repast  and  to  kiss  her  hand. 
It  is  allowed  to  degenerate  foreigners  to  substitute 
the  handshake,  if  preferred. 

From  Tovorkova  we  started  on  a  tour  through 
a  number  of  districts  in  the  Government  of  Tula 
and  Kursk,  in  an  ancient  phaeton  drawn  by  three 
stout  horses.  My  companion  was  Count  Paul 
Bobrinskoy,  a  handsome  fellow,  twenty-four  years 
of  age.  We  visited  peasants,  their  fields,  cows, 
horses,  and  workers.  Over  dreadfully  bad  roads 
we  were  jolted  and  knocked  about,  going  through 
Suckromna,  Buturke,  Muravlauke,  Beresevka, 
and  Karidzena  to  Orlovka.  In  all  these  places 
there  were  evidences  of  extreme  poverty  and  of 
welcome  relief  through  the  past  three  months. 

At  Muravlauke  a  stop  made  at  a  public  house 
for  change  of  horses  I  utilized  for  a  little  personal 
refreshment.  Our  lunch,  which  we  had  brought 
with  us,  was  unfolded  in  the  midst  of  a  curious, 


Count  Leo  Tolstoy. 
Photographed  in  Moscow,  1892. 


VISITING  THE  POOR  PEASANTS       65 

interested  party  of  peasants,  mostly  the  family 
of  the  publican.  Hearty  thanks  came  from  the 
head  of  the  family  to  be  sent  to  America  for  the 
money  given  to  buy  the  Conemaugh's  cargo.  One 
of  them,  gazing  at  me  with  wonder  at  the  prodi- 
gality of  our  lunch  of  sandwiches  and  sardines, 
said  in  a  tone  of  great  surprise,  in  Russian,  and 
translated  for  me  by  the  Count — " My!  He  even 
wears  a  hat  like  our  own."  It  was  evident  that 
one  coming  so  far  on  such  a  mission  was  expected 
by  them  to  wear  at  least  a  red  hat  and  to  have 
some  gilt  trimming  on  his  coat. 

Early  next  morning  Count  Vladimir  Bobrinskoy 
with  his  sister  left  for  some  hospital  work  in  a 
distant  village.  With  Count  Paul,  the  younger 
brother,  I  set  out  in  a  tarantass  with  three  stout 
horses  for  a  drive  of  a  hundred  versts  through  the 
country.  The  roads  are  simply  wagon  tracks 
through  open  fields  and,  at  long  intervals,  across 
unbridged  streams.  We  twice  crossed  the  river 
Don  upon  bridges  of  most  rickety  construction, 
consisting  of  logs  covered  with  earth  and  stone, 
in  one  case  so  narrow  that  we  were  obliged  to  take 
off  one  of  our  three  horses  before  we  could  get  on. 
The  snow  had  long  since  disappeared,  disclosing 


66  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

in  the  fields  a  most  miserable  prospect  for  the 
approaching  crop  of  grain.  Cattle  were  very  few, 
but  here  and  there  I  saw  some  thin,  half-starved 
cows  rooting  in  the  ground, — literally  "rooting," 
for  only  roots  were  to  be  found  to  eat  as  a  result  of 
all  their  labour  and  pains.  Many  cottages  had  been 
dismantled  by  the  horses  eating  the  straw  from 
the  roofs.  From  all  of  this  I  was  quite  prepared 
to  hear  as  I  did  through  letters  from  Russia,  that 
the  crops  well-nigh  failed  again  and  that  the 
destitution  of  the  peasant  was  as  great  as  ever. 

We  stopped  for  the  night  in  Orlovka,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  Pizareff,  who,  as  Chairman  of  the 
Red  Cross  Association  for  his  district,  was  actively 
engaged  with  his  wife  in  every  branch  of  the  relief 
work. 


VIII 
With  Count  Tolstoy 

COUNT  LEO  TOLSTOY,  known  also  as  Lyoff  or 
Lyeff  Nikolaievich  Tolstoy,  was  born  in  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Tula,  Russia,  August  28, 1828 ;  he  died  at 
Astapova,  November  20,  1910.  He  was  educated 
in  the  University  of  Kazan  and  served  in  the  army 
in  the  Caucasus  and  in  the  Crimean  War,  being 
appointed  commander  of  a  battery  in  1855.  He 
took  part  in  the  battle  of  the  Tchernaya,  was  in 
the  storming  of  Sebastopol,  and  after  it,  was  sent 
as  a  special  courier  to  St.  Petersburg.  He  retired 
at  the  end  of  the  campaign.  After  the  liberation  of 
the  Serfs  he  lived  on  his  estates,  working  with  and 
relieving  the  peasants,  and  also  devoting  himself 
to  study. 

Mr.  Pazareff  had  invited  Count  Tolstoy,  whose 
base  of  operations  was  in  the  neighbouring  Province 
of  Riazan,  to  join  us  at  supper.  The  Count  came, 
like  our  Yankee  Doodle,  riding  on  a  pony,  a  little 

67 


68  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

black  beauty,  on  which  he  sat  with  all  the  dignity 
of  a  First  Regiment  trooper.  In  appearance  the 
famous  novelist  and  philanthropist  was  more 
commanding  than  handsome,  in  manner  easy  and 
kindly,  in  conversation  quite  unreserved,  not  lead- 
ing, but  as  ready  to  listen  as  to  talk.  After  supper 
he  mounted  his  pony  and  galloped  away,  first 
inviting  us  to  call  upon  him  on  the  morrow. 

With  three  frisky  horses  our  drive  was  resumed 
next  morning.  Our  first  stop  was  at  Beghitshevka, 
Tolstoy's  headquarters  for  famine-relief  work. 
We  found  the  Count,  dressed  in  his  grey  peasant's 
smock,  sitting  at  a  table  in  his  study,  a  small, 
unpretentious,  simply  furnished  plank-floored 
room.  With  a  hearty  welcome  he  presented  us 
to  his  daughter,  Princess  Mary,  who,  while  presid- 
ing with  grace  over  the  affairs  of  the  house  in  her 
mother's  absence,  devoted  herself,  with  her  father, 
to  their  great  work  of  charity  in  the  surrounding 
country. 

A  plan  of  the  province  given  to  me  showed 
twenty-six  soup-houses  and  bakeries,  eight  hospi- 
tals, and  seven  sanitariums  under  the  care  of  Count 
Tolstoy.  As  a  result  of  his  telling  me  that  he  had 
notified  the  Government  Committee  that  he  would 


WITH  COUNT  TOLSTOY  69 

need  no  more  assistance  during  the  season  and  that 
he  now  regretted  having  done  so  because  there 
was  increased  suffering  and  want  caused  by  sick- 
ness, I  telegraphed  to  Riga  for  a  carload  of  flour 
to  be  shipped  to  him.  After  my  return  to  Phila- 
delphia I  received  a  letter  from  him  thankfully 
acknowledging  receipt  of  it.  A  photographed 
copy  of  this  latter  is  on  page 

In  answer  to  a  question  whether  he  was  engaged 
in  writing  a  book,  "Yes,"  he  replied.  As  to  its 
subject,  he  said,  "I  think  that  the  title  will  be, 
'The  Kingdom  of  God  is  in  You,'"  asking  me  at 
the  same  time  if  he  had  given  the  right  English 
translation  of  the  Bible  text. 

His  talk  was  chiefly  about  the  sad  condition 
of  the  peasantry,  and  the  great  progress  of  the 
Christian  religion,  of  which  the  sending  of  these 
relief  ships  from  America  to  Russia  was  a  sure 
evidence.  "The  time  seems  to  have  come,"  he 
said,  "when  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man  are  being  universally  acknow- 
ledged." 

Connected  with  the  Count's  study  was  a  large 
room  with  a  rough  old  plank  floor.  At  a  table  in 
a  corner  sat  an  aged  man,  of  over  four  score  years, 


70  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

in  shabby  clothing.  Princess  Mary,  after  explain- 
ing his  presence  with  them,  brought  him  out  for  an 
introduction,  and  read  to  me  a  lot  of  queer  religious 
rhymes  written  by  the  old  fellow.  She  said  he  had 
come  last  winter  telling  her  father  that  he  had  a 
vision  of  and  message  from  God  that  he  should 
spend  his  last  days  with  Count  Tolstoy.  Taking 
him  at  God's  word  the  Count  admitted  him.  Ask- 
ing Princess  Mary  what  her  father  would  do  with 
him  upon  return  to  their  home  in  Moscow,  she 
expressed  the  opinion  that  he  would  take  the  old 
man  with  him. 

In  reply  to  his  inquiry  regarding  my  stay  in 
Russia,  I  told  the  Count  that  it  was  near  its 
end  as  I  had  important  business  to  transact  in 
Liverpool,  England,  early  in  June.  The  Count, 
expressing  his  regret  that  my  stay  was  to  be  so 
short,  I  dropped  the  American  adage — "Time  is 
money."  "No,"  he  said,  "time  is  not  money; 
that  is  placing  too  low  an  estimate  on  the  value  of 
time. "  Standing  outside  the  door  to  remount  our 
tarantass,  I  remarked  to  Princess  Mary,  looking 
up  at  the  gathering  clouds,  "I  hope  it  will  not 
rain  today."  Beaming  with  brightness  she  said, 
"  I  hope  it  will. "  I  thought  of  the  long  journey 


Facsimile  of  a  Letter  from  Count  Tolstoy  to  the  Author. 


WITH  COUNT  TOLSTOY  71 

ahead  of  us  in  the  open  wagon;  her  thoughts  were 
upon  the  struggling  grain  in  the  fields.  It  rained, 
and  I  was  well  watered,  but  I  took  the  drenching 
with  equanimity  as  I  thought  of  Miss  Mary  and 
the  starving  peasants. 

Hon.  Rudolph  Blankenburg  wrote  the  follow- 
ing to  a  Philadelphia  newspaper: 

The  rumour  that  Count  Tolstoy  has  been  antago- 
nized and  even  threatened  by  the  Russian  Government 
for  the  manner  and  methods  of  his  work  can  be  traced 
to  the  same  source  that  invariably  tries  to  belittle, 
misrepresent,  and  even  falsify  everything  pertaining  to 
Russia.  There  is  an  antagonism  to  Russia  and  her 
Government  in  Germany,  as  well  as  in  England,  that 
seeks  in  every  way  to  propagate  falsehood  and  to 
cloud  the  truth,  and,  as  most  of  our  information  from 
and  about  Russia  is  gathered  from  English  and  Ger- 
man sources,  it  would  be  well  for  us  to  discount  largely 
the  wonderful  stories  we  hear  from  and  about  this  land. 
When  I  arrived  in  Europe  the  story  was  flashed  all 
over  the  civilized  world  that  Count  Tolstoy  had  been 
ordered  to  his  estates  by  the  Government  and  that  he 
was  a  prisoner!  I  read  editorials  on  this  "high- 
handed outrage"  in  some  of  the  leading  papers  of 
Europe,  and  must  confess  the  news  struck  me  very 
unfavourably  and  prejudiced  me  a  good  deal.  Almost 
the  first  question  I  asked  upon  my  arrival  was  regard- 
ing the  truth  of  this  story,  and  the  reply  received 


72  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

from  a  high  and  well-posted  source  was:  "There  is 
absolutely  no  truth  in  it. "  My  informant  added  that 
the  Count  did  give  the  Government  concern  occasion- 
ally on  account  of  his  peculiar  notions  about  many 
things,  but  this  story  about  his  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment was  not  true.  Count  Tolstoy  is  at  present,  as 
stated  in  yesterday's  St.  Petersburg  Gazette,  not  on  his 
estate,  "lassnaja  Poljana, "  in  the  Government  of 
Rjasan,  but  in  the  Busuluk  district  of  Samara,  500 
miles  east  of  his  home.  It  would  really  be  well  not  to 
be  in  a  hurry  to  accept  as  authentic  all  the  news 
we  receive  about  Russia  through  the  channels  above 
indicated.  The  ill-feeling  of  these  countries  towards 
Russia  prejudices  them  to  the  extent  that  they  magnify 
the  dark  sides  and  scarcely  mention  the  bright  ones. 

The  London  Daily  Mail,  January  17,  1901, 
printed  the  following  despatch  from  Odessa : 

While  journeying  north  from  Livadia,  Emperor 
Nicholas,  during  a  breakfast  luncheon  at  Tula,  capital 
of  the  Government  of  the  same  name  in  Central  Russia, 
sent  a  delicately  worded  message  expressing  his  desire 
to  see  Count  Leo  Tolstoy.  Contrary  to  expectation 
Tolstoy  accepted  the  invitation  and  soon  appeared  at 
the  railway  station. 

In  his  peasant's  garb  he  presented  a  striking  contrast 
to  the  richly  dressed  entourage  of  the  Czar.  Emperor 
Nicholas  kissed  him  on  the  mouth  and  both  cheeks, 
and  Tolstoy  readily  responded. 

Then  a  conversation  commenced,  the  Czar  asking 


WITH  COUNT  TOLSTOY  73 

his  guest  for  an  opinion  upon  the  imperial  proposal  for 
the  limitation  of  armaments.  Count  Tolstoy  replied 
that  he  could  only  believe  in  it  when  his  Majesty 
should  set  the  example  to  other  nations.  On  the  Czar 
mentioning  the  difficulties  of  the  problem  and  the 
necessity  for  the  aid  of  the  united  powers  the  Count 
softened  somewhat  and  expressed  the  hope  that  his 
Majesty  would  be  able  to  attain  some  definite  results 
or  at  any  rate  to  formulate  some  workable  plan  at  the 
conference. 

The  Czar,  thanking  him  for  his  good  wishes,  said 
he  would  be  pleased  if  Tolstoy  could  be  induced  to  lend 
his  genius  to  the  solution  of  the  question  and  the 
Count  rejoined  that  the  Emperor  might  count  upon 
his  co-operation,  for  he  was  already  engaged  upon  a 
work  dealing  with  the  question  in  point,  which  would 
soon  see  the  light. 

Although  the  remainder  of  this  long  country 
ride  abounded  in  interesting  experiences  I  must 
touch  upon  only  one  or  two  incidents.  Our  mid- 
day meal,  thirty  versts  farther  on,  was  thoroughly 
enjoyed  at  the  table  of  Madame  Filosoffoff,  a  sister 
of  the  Bobrinskoys,  who,  with  two  lovely  daugh- 
ters, had  turned  away  from  the  comforts  of  a  city 
home  to  minister  to  the  poor  in  this  distressed 
region. 

Visiting  several  more  villages  we  came  into  one, 


74  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

a  half  of  whose  houses  had  been  destroyed  by 
fire  a  few  days  before.  Three  men  fell  upon  their 
knees  before  us  in  the  road,  begging  for  help  to 
rebuild  their  homes.  Next  to  famine  and  pesti- 
lence, fire  is  the  most  fearfully  dreaded  enemy  of 
these  people.  In  a  dry  time,  when  a  blaze  starts 
among  their  heavily  thatched  straw  roofs  many  of 
the  houses  go  up  in  fire  and  smoke  together. 

Count  Paul  Bobrinskoy,  my  companion  of  many 
days,  now  about  to  part  with  me  at  the  railway 
station,  Kashinow,  fell  upon  my  neck  and  kissed 
me,  just  as  we  are  told  in  the  Book  of  Acts  the 
companions  of  his  namesake,  the  great  Apostle, 
did,  and  like  the  Apostle's  friend,  I,  too,  "sorrowed 
most  of  all  for  the  words  which  he  spake,  that  I 
should  see  his  face  no  more." 

I  carried  with  me  a  letter  written  by  Count  Paul 
to  Vladimer  Ivanovitch  Peterson,  the  station- 
master  at  Riask,  five  hours'  journey  toward  Mos- 
cow, written  to  him  that  I  might  be  directed  to 
the  right  train  at  that  point,  which  was  a  junction 
of  two  lines  of  railway.  I  presented  this  letter 
on  arrival,  nine  o'clock  at  night,  to  a  servant  of 
the  company.  With  the  aid  of  a  bystander,  an 
English  gentleman,  who  observed  my  futile 


Mai  and  Sophie  Peterson. 

Daughters  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vladimer  Ivanovitch  Peterson  of 
Riask,  Russia. 


WITH  COUNT  TOLSTOY  75 

efforts  to  make  the  fellow  understand  that  I 
wished  him  to  give  the  letter  to  the  station- 
master,  I  succeeded  in  my  purpose.  The  station- 
master  came  to  me,  a  fine-looking,  tall  gentleman, 
with  a  military  bearing  and  a  most  kindly  face. 
The  letter  evidently  contained  information  con- 
cerning my  mission  in  Russia,  for  never  before  was 
I  the  recipient  of  such  a  profusion  of  kind  atten- 
tions even  from  friends,  not  to  mention  strangers. 
Calling  servants,  the  station-master  delivered  to 
one  my  coat,  to  another  my  hand  baggage,  to  a  third 
an  order  for  supper,  and  telling  me  in  imperfect  Eng- 
lish that  I  must  wait  for  my  train  three  hours  or 
until  midnight,  he  led  me  to  the  station  restaurant 
— a  first-class  establishment,  ordered  a  good  supper, 
opened  a  bottle  of  "Roderer, "  and  as  we  sat  to- 
gether, took  the  liveliest  interest  in  all  I  could 
tell  him  of  what  America  was  doing  for  Russia's 
starving  peasants.  Again  and  again  touched  by 
some  allusion,  he  rose  to  his  feet,  extended  his 
arm  across  the  table  and  gave  me  a  hearty  hand- 
shake. The  lunch  over,  he  took  me  to  his  house, 
introduced  me  to  his  peasant  cook  in  the  kitchen, 
showed  me  over  the  house,  proudly  pointed  to 
photographs  of  his  wife,  who  at  the  time,  with  her 


76  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

little  daughters,  was  visiting  her  mother  in  Mos- 
cow. He  ordered  coffee  made,  set  it  before  me 
with  cakes,  oranges,  mint  drops,  and  the  best 
cigars  I  ever  encountered  in  all  Europe.  He 
then  began  to  load  me  with  souvenirs  giving  me  a 
silver  Russian  coin-holder,  photographs  of  himself, 
his  wife,  and  his  two  little  daughters ;  a  quantity 
of  lace  and  some  fancy  work  made  by  his  cook,  and 
finally  an  immense  bunch  of  lilies-of-the-valley, 
Russia's  most  lovely  wild  flower. 

Returning  from  his  dwelling  to  the  station,  I 
was  shown  a  large  room  in  the  station,  the  floor 
of  which  was  literally  covered  with  human  beings, 
• — peasant  men  in  their  rough  sheep-skin  gar- 
ments,— asleep.  They  were  a  gang  of  labourers 
employed  by  the  Government,  awaiting  transpor- 
tation by  railroad. 

On  the  arrival  of  my  train  my  friend  provided 
for  me  a  special  sleeping  apartment,  furnished  with 
bed,  table,  and  chair,  a  striking  contrast  to  our 
Pullman  narrow-berth  sleepers.  He  gave  orders 
to  have  me  well  cared  for,  hugged  and  kissed  me, 
and  with  a  "God  bless  you"  and  "God  bless 
America"  the  train  moved  off.  By  noon  next  day 
I  was  again  in  Russia's  Holy  City. 


IX 
Russia's  Jewish  People 

I  HAVE  been  asked  if  I  gained  any  information  in 
Russia  touching  the  alleged  atrocious  treatment  of 
political  prisoners  in  Siberia  and  the  persecution  of 
the  Jews.  Just  enough,  is  my  answer,  to  assure 
me  that  there  has  been  exaggeration  in  some  of 
the  reports  that  have  been  given  publicity  as  to 
both  these  serious  matters,  and  no  little  misrepre- 
sentation either  through  ignorance,  prejudice,  or 
malice.  The  inspiration  of  such  statements,  may 
be  attributed  generally  to  political  enemies  of 
Russia.  Everyone  knows  how  easy  it  is  to  mis- 
understand a  matter  when  but  half  of  the  facts 
and  nothing  of  the  underlying  causes  are  revealed. 
Loyal  and  law-abiding  subjects  of  the  Czar  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  mighty  arm  of  their  ruler 
nor  from  the  prisons  of  Siberia,  for  "  Rulers  are  not 
a  terror  to  good  works  but  to  the  evil. " 

I  undertake  no  defence  of  Russia's  penal  code, 
though  I  might  better  succeed  in  that  than  in  any 

77 


RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 


effort  I  might  make  to  apologize  for  some  of  our 
own  municipal  and  State  politics  and  the  conse- 
quent evils  and  abuses  that  are  even  now  being 
endured  by  our  sovereign  citizens. 

The  Jew  in  Russia  is  not  to  be  understood  as 
identical  with  the  worthy  examples  of  that  race 
who  have  become  good  citizens  among  us.  Our 
treatment  of  the  Japanese  in  California  and  of  the 
negroes  in  some  of  our  Southern  States  would  seem 
to  suggest  to  us  the  justice  of  making  full  inquiries 
before  passing  judgment  on  the  Russian  people  for 
their  hostility  to  a  certain  class  of  Hebrews. 

Pierre  Botkine,  Secretary  of  the  Russian  Lega- 
tion in  Washington,  in  an  article  in  the  Century 
Magazine  entitled,  "A  Voice  from  Russia, "  makes 
a  noble  defence  of  his  country  against  the  charge  of 
religious  intolerance  and  persecution  on  the  part 
of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church  in  the  explusion  of 
Jews.  He  says: 

They  have  not  been  expelled,  as  has  been  charged, 
but  have  been  restricted  as  to  localities  of  domicile 
and  as  to  kinds  of  occupation ;  they  have  abused  their 
privileges  as  traders  and  as  lenders  of  money  to  the 
poor  until  they  have  become  dangerous  and  prejudi- 
cial to  the  people.  The  peasants,  in  their  weakness 


RUSSIA'S  JEWISH  PEOPLE  79 

and  ignorance,  have  in  some  localities  lost  all  patience, 
have  been  guilty  of  violent  excesses,  have  mobbed  the 
Jews  and  destroyed  their  property.  They  have  tried 
to  annihilate  particularly  all  property,  which  to  their 
exasperated  minds,  was  ill-gotten. 

And  disclaiming  all  thought  of  excusing  such 
barbarities,  he  says: — "They  can  only  be  regarded 
as  a  protest  of  the  people  against  what  they  found 
to  be  a  thraldom  to  the  Jews  worse  than  the  serf- 
dom which  had  been  abolished. " 

I  found  the  Jews  trading  in  St.  Petersburg,  just 
as  they  do  in  Philadelphia,  with  no  thought  of 
molestation,  and  after  inquiring  of  United  States 
officials  in  that  city,  and  of  the  best  informed 
Russians  I  feel  inclined  to  endorse  the  article  in 
the  Century. 

The  London  Correspondent  of  The  Public  Ledger 
writes  on  this  subject,  August  I,  1916,  as  follows: 

Announcement  in  Petrograd  by  Paul  Milsukoff, 
leader  of  the  Constitutional  Democrats  in  the  Duma, 
that  a  bill  giving  Jews  equal  rights  will  be  introduced 
in  the  Duma  in  November  confirms  reports  current  in 
Jewish  circles  here  for  some  time. 

By  Russian  departmental  order  the  residence  of 
Jews  outside  the  pale  already  is  permitted,  and  re- 
cently there  was  a  discussion  of  the  Jewish  question  by 


80  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

the  Cabinet  Council  at  imperial  headquarters,  at  which 
it  was  understood  that  the  project  of  introducing  a 
bill  in  the  Duma  legalizing  this  departmental  order 
was  favourably  considered. 

The  circular  issued  by  Count  Ignatieff,  Russian 
Minister  of  Education,  abolishing  the  system  of  bal- 
lot for  Jews  desiring  to  enter  Russian  secondary 
schools  was  regarded  as  an  excellent  omen  for  the 
further  enfranchisement  of  Jews.  Alexis  Aladin,  one 
of  the  best-known  members  of  the  Duma  and  now  in 
London,  said  today  that  not  only  was  the  present 
report  true,  but  he  considered  it  quite  likely  the  bill 
for  equal  rights  would  be  passed. 

"It  is  a  step  of  immense  importance  and  one  that 
must  arrest  the  attention  of  the  whole  world,"  said 
Aladin,  "I  am  unable  to  reveal  all  I  know,  but  I  am 
able  to  say  I  am  confident  the  bill  will  be  introduced 
in  the  Duma  and  passed. " 

There  recently  visited  London  two  prominent 
members  of  the  Russian  Government.  Vice-Presi- 
dent Propopoff,  of  the  Duma,  and  M.  Gourko.  Both 
these  men,  your  correspondent  learned  in  intimate 
talks,  looked  with  favour  on  speedy  legislation  giving 
the  Jews  equal  advantages  with  all  Russians.  Their 
attitude  is  extremely  significant  of  the  change  that 
has  been  taking  place  in  the  inner  councils  of  Russian 
affairs  since  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

Here  we  have  Propopoff,  a  nobleman  and  capitalist, 
swinging  around  to  the  idea  that  the  time  has  arrived 
to  put  the  Jew  on  an  equal  footing  with  his  fellow-men 
in  Russia.  As  Vice-President  of  the  Duma,  he  is  a 


RUSSIA'S  JEWISH  PEOPLE  81 

man  of  influence;  in  fact,  one  of  the  most  promising 
statesmen  Russia  ever  produced.  In  speaking  with 
friends  here  he  said  that  today  one  does  not  talk  of 
the  "necessity"  of  giving  the  Jew  equal  rights,  but  of 
the  "desirability." 

In  other  words,  he  maintained  that  the  day  had 
come  when  Russia  was  beginning  to  recognize  the 
importance  of  the  Jew  as  a  vital  part  of  her  national 
life.  The  reason,  he  argued,  was  that  the  Jew  shows 
himself  of  real  value  to  Russia  in  commercial  life  and 
is  a  factor  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the  future  if  Russia 
is  to  develop  the  best  that  is  in  her.  With  him  stands 
Gourko,  a  forceful  leader  in  the  Council  of  Empire 
and  an  assistant  minister. 

These  leaders  are  unafraid  to  compromise  their 
political  success  by  putting  the  Jewish  question  on  the 
basis  of  a  complete  settlement  of  equality  of  rights. 
That  to  my  mind  is  a  sure  indication  of  the  trend  of  the 
Jewish  problem  in  Russia. 

A  friend,  who  having  been  strongly  impressed 
by  such  presentments  against  Russia  as  those  of 
George  Kennan,  said  to  me, — "You  know  there  is 
a  Darkest  Russia  as  well  as  a  Darkest  England, 
and  the  favouring  circumstances  under  which  you 
visited  the  country  gave  you  little  opportunity  to 
see  the  dark  side;  hence  you  can  paint  your  picture 
only  in  warm,  glowing  tints."  Possibly  he  is  not 
far  astray,  but  I  have  aimed  to  present  an  unpre- 

6 


82  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

judiced,  uncoloured  view  of  things  as  I  saw  them. 
I  believe  that  the  nobles  of  Russia  are  endeavour- 
ing to  maintain  a  kind,  helpful  paternal  relation 
toward  the  peasant  class,  irrespective  of  their 
religious  affiliations,  and  that  in  this  respect  they 
are  the  peers  of  their  fellow-Christians  in  any  land. 
They  are  struggling  with  the  great  civil  and  social 
problems  of  the  day  in  an  earnest  spirit  of  broad 
Christian  chanty.  If  their  progress  appears  to 
some  to  be  dreadfully  slow  in  comparison  with 
our  own,  we  have  but  to  remember  the  differ- 
ence in  our  forms  of  government  and  the  dangers 
involved  in  sudden,  radical  political  changes, 
even  when  those  changes  are  in  the  line  of  great 
reforms.  Let  us  remember  the  fate  of  Presi- 
dents Lincoln  and  Garfield  and  McKinley,  and 
be  still! 

We  have  reason  for  rejoicing  in  our  constitutional 
deliverance  from  a  condition  that  was  in  violation 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  Declaration  of 
Independence ;  so  has  Russia  for  her  emancipation 
of  the  serfs  in  1861,  and  their  deliverance  from  an 
hierarchy,  which  means  its  people's  deliverance 
from  a  sectarian  yoke  and  from  ecclesiastical 
domination. 


I 


& 


RUSSIA'S  JEWISH  PEOPLE  83 

Rev.  Floyd  W.  Tomkins,  D.D.,  in  a  recent 
explanation  of  a  Sunday-school  lesson,  said : 

Let  it  not  be  thought  that  we  are  justified  in  treating 
the  Jews  unkindly  or  critically  because  the  Gospel 
was  preached  to  the  gentiles  after  the  people  of  Judea 
rejected  it.  We  can  never  earn  God's  love  or  approval 
by  frowning  upon  those  whom  He  loved  and  amongst 
whom  He  lived  and  died.  We  want  to  do  all  we  can 
to  make  the  Jews  know  that  Christ  was  their  Messiah, 
and  those  who  ill-treat  them  and  are  cruel  by  word 
or  action  will  not  only  lose  the  favour  of  God,  but  will 
incur  His  displeasure. 

Rabbi  Joseph  Krauskopf,  D.D.,  has  given 
me  the  privilege  of  quoting  from  his  published 
addresses  delivered  at  Temple  Keneseth  Israel  of 
Philadelphia. 

The  story  of  his  visit  to  Tolstoy,  1894,  is  especi- 
ally interesting.  No  one  of  our  Jewish  fraternity 
is  to  my  mind  more  trustworthy  than  he  in  the 
elucidation  of  now  existing  relations  between  the 
Russian  Jews  and  their  Government. 

I  quote  as  follows: 

While  within  the  Russian  borders,  I  was  privileged 
to  come  in  contact  with  many  prominent  Russians, 
one  of  them,  M.  Witte,  who  at  that  time  was  Minister 


84  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

of  Finance  and  practically  at  the  head  of  the  empire, 
the  Czar,  Alexander  III.,  being  critically  ill  in  Crimea, 
where  he  shortly  after  died. 

But  of  all  the  men  I  met  none  made  the  impression 
that  was  left  on  me  by  my  visit  to  Count  Leo  Tolstoy. 
It  was  made  possible  by  Mr.  Andrew  D.  White,  the 
distinguished  scholar  and  statesman,  who  at  that  time 
represented  our  country  at  St.  Petersburg.  He  had 
written  and  asked  the  Count  to  meet  me  and  to  learn  of 
the  mission  that  brought  me  to  Russia.  The  Count's 
daughter,  Tatiana,  replied  that  her  father  would  be 
pleased  to  have  me  visit  him,  adding  that  he  was  just 
then  engaged  in  hay-making,  and,  therefore,  had  not 
much  leisure.  To  take  as  little  of  his  time  as  possible 
I  arranged  to  arrive  in  the  courtyard  of  his  manor- 
house  at  Yasnaya  Polyana,  late  in  the  afternoon. 
Approaching  a  group  of  peasants  that  stood  at  a  well 
drinking  water  and  mopping  their  brows,  my  travelling 
companion,  a  young  Russian  lawyer,  asked  them 
where  we  might  find  the  Count.  One  of  them  stepped 
out  of  the  group,  and,  lifting  his  cap,  said  most  court- 
eously that  he  was  Tolstoy:  learning  my  name,  he 
bade  me  a  hearty  welcome. 

From  the  moment  I  first  gazed  upon  him  he  held  me 
captive,  and,  by  a  strange  psychic  power,  he  has  held 
me  enthralled  ever  since.  No  wish  of  mine  has  been 
more  fondly  cherished  in  the  years  that  have  since 
passed  by  than  that  of  some  day  visiting  Russia  again, 
and  only  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  once  more  that 
strangely  facinating  personality,  of  listening  again  to 
his  marvellous  flow  of  wisdom. 


RUSSIA'S  JEWISH  PEOPLE  85 

I  had  often  wondered  how  a  Moses,  an  Isaiah,  a 
Jeremiah,  a  Socrates,  looked  and  talked,  denounced 
and  dreamed :  the  moment  I  saw  and  heard  Tolstoy  I 
knew.  One  hour's  talk  with  him  seemed  equal  to  a 
whole  university  course  in  political  and  social  science ; 
one  walk  with  him  on  his  estate  stored  up  in  the 
listener  more  knowledge  of  moral  philosophy  than 
could  be  crowded  into  a  year's  seminary  instruction. 
Great  as  was  the  power  of  his  pen,  immeasurably 
greater  was  the  power  of  his  living  word.  In  some 
mysterious  way  the  flow  of  his  speech  seemed  to 
exercise  a  hypnotic  spell  upon  the  speaker  as  much 
as  upon  the  listener.  The  speaker  seemed  at  times 
translated  into  a  super-human  being,  seemed  inspired, 
seemed  to  speak  words  not  his  own,  as  one  of  the 
ancient  prophets  of  Israel  must  have  spoken  when  he 
said  the  words:  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  while  the 
listener  seemed  scarcely  capable  of  thought  or  speech, 
felt  his  being  almost  lose  its  identity  and  become 
merged  with  that  of  the  speaker. 

The  first  question  Count  Tolstoy  put  to  me  was 
from  what  part  of  the  United  States  I  hailed.  Upon 
my  telling  him  that  Philadelphia  was  my  home,  he 
expressed  himself  as  much  pleased.  He  recalled  the 
two  shiploads  of  food  we  sent  from  our  port,  two  years 
earlier,  for  the  relief  of  the  famine-stricken  of  Russia, 
of  the  distribution  of  which  he  had  personal  charge, 
and  he  spoke  with  pleasure  and  appreciation  of 
Mr.  Francis  B.  Reeves,  our  fellow-townsman,  who  had 
accompanied  the  food-relief. 

With  even  keener  delight  he  recalled  that  the  first 


86  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

aid  received  from  the  United  States  was  from  the 
Jewish  congregation  of  Sacramento,  California,  which 
to  him  was  all  the  more  remarkable  from  the  fact  that 
the  district  stricken  was,  through  governmental  re- 
striction, uninhabited  by  Jews.  The  expression  of 
pleasure  turned  to  one  of  sorrow  when  he  remarked 
that  Russia  had  little  deserved  such  generous  treat- 
ment at  the  hand  of  Jews — and  he  lived  to  see  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  repaid  in  Kishineff  and  other 
places. 

More  than  300,000  Jews  of  Russian  birth  are  fight- 
ing today  in  that  country  for  their  fatherland,  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  them  have  laid  down  their  lives 
in  defence  thereof.  Hundreds  of  them  are  recipients 
of  medals  of  honour  for  deeds  of  valour  on  the  battle- 
fields, in  many  instances  won  while  fighting  against 
fellow- Jews  of  Austrian  and  German  armies,  thus 
holding  ties  of  fatherland  higher  than  those  of  blood  or 
faith. 

From  this  loyalty  of  Jews  to  countries  where  they 
are  still  labouring  more  or  less  under  disadvantages, 
even  to  such  countries  as  Russia,  where  they  are  not 
yet  in  possession  of  citizenship  rights  at  all,  may  easily 
be  judged  what  their  loyalty  must  be  to  a  country  such 
as  ours,  where,  almost  from  the  first,  every  right  that 
was  conferred  upon  followers  of  other  faiths,  was  con- 
ferred upon  them,  the  country  which,  for  the  first 
time  since  they  were  driven  from  their  original  Pales- 
tinian home,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  they  were 
privileged  to  call  truly  their  own. 

The  conversation  turned  to  social  conditions  in  the 


RUSSIA'S  JEWISH  PEOPLE  87 

United  States,  and  on  these  matters  he  displayed  an 
amount  of  knowledge  that  was  amazing.  The  more 
I  listened  the  more  I  wondered,  till  finally  I  could 
not  but  ask  him  how  he  who  wrote  and  worked  so 
much  could  find  time  to  keep  himself  so  well  informed 
of  a  country  so  far  away  as  the  United  States.  To 
which  he  replied,  "Your  country  has  interested  me 
even  more  than  mine.  I  have  lost  hope  in  mine;  all 
my  hope  was,  at  one  time,  centred  in  yours.  But 
yours  is  a  disappointment  as  much  as  mine.  Were 
yours  the  free  and  representative  government  you  pre- 
tend to  have,  you  would  not  allow  it  to  be  controlled 
by  the  money  powers  and  their  hirelings,  the  bosses  and 
machines,  as  you  do.  I  have  read  Progress  and  Pov- 
erty by  Henry  George,  and  I  know  what  Mr.  Bryce 
says  about  you  in  his  American  Commonwealth,  and 
I  have  read  and  heard  even  worse  things  about  your 
misgovernment  than  what  they  say. 

"We  were  all  right,"  he  continued,  "as  long  as  we 
were  an  agricultural  people.  Our  modes  of  life,  then, 
were  simple,  and  our  ideals  were  high.  Politics  then 
was  a  religion  with  us  and  not  a  matter  of  barter 
and  sale.  We  became  prosperous;  prosperity  brought 
luxury,  and  luxury,  as  always,  brings  corruption.  The 
thirst  of  gold  is  upon  us,  and,  in  our  eagerness  to  quench 
it,  and  to  gratify  our  lust  of  luxury,  our  one-time 
lofty  principles  and  aspirations  are  dragged  down  and 
trampled  in  the  mire.  We  build  city  upon  city,  and 
pride  ourselves  in  making  one  greater  than  the  other, 
and,  in  the  meantime,  we  wipe  out  village  after  village, 
whence  have  come  our  strength  and  moral  fibre." 


88  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

He  was  not  the  first  of  the  world's  great  reformers 
and  lovers  of  humanity  to  lose  heart  and  to  experience 
spells  of  despair.  Moses  and  Elijah  and  Jesus  and 
others  had  their  hours  of  agony,  and  prayed  that  the 
end  might  come,  and  deliver  them  from  their  hopeless 
labours.  And  many  who,  like  Tolstoy,  closed  their 
eyes  in  the  belief  that  they  had  utterly  failed  loomed 
large  in  subsequent  ages  among  the  greatest  of  the 
world's  benefactors. 

Tolstoy  has  not  failed.  He  succeeded  better  than 
he  knew.  His  pathetic  death  revealed  the  vast  num- 
ber of  followers  he  had  in  his  own  country  and  in 
all  parts  of  the  world.  And  had  he  cared  to  inquire, 
he  might  have  known  it  before  his  death.  He  could 
have  seen  it  from  the  fact  that  more  books  of  his  were 
sold  than  of  all  other  Russian  authors  combined.  He 
could  have  seen  it  in  the  vast  crowds  that  gathered  all 
along  the  line,  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  him,  when  on  his 
journey,  a  few  years  ago,  to  the  Crimea,  in  search  of 
health.  He  could  have  seen  it  in  the  deputations  of 
sympathizers  that  waited  upon  him,  and  in  the  streams 
of  congratulatory  letters  and  telegrams  that  rushed  in 
upon  him — till  suppressed — after  his  excommunica- 
tion. He  could  have  seen  it  in  the  Tolstoyan  societies 
among  the  students  of  almost  all  the  Russian  univer- 
sities and  among  other  bodies.  He  could  have  seen  it 
among  the  considerable  number  of  landlords,  who 
made  conscientious  efforts  at  following  his  life,  and  at 
adopting  his  mode  of  dealing  with  peasants  and  la- 
bourers. Were  the  yoke  of  autocracy  removed,  there 
would  arise  in  Russia  an  army  of  Tolstoyans  as  vast 


RUSSIA'S  JEWISH  PEOPLE  89 

and  mighty  as  the  host  which  Ezekiel  in  his  vision 
saw  in  the  valley  of  dry  bones. 

The  religion  of  Russia  of  the  future  will  be  largely 
that  which  Tolstoy  lived  and  taught,  and  it  will  be 
the  religion  of  a  large  part  of  the  rest  of  the  world. 
Time's  sifting  process  will  eliminate  whatever  is 
untenable  in  his  system  of  moral  and  social  and 
economic  philosophy,  which  sprang  more  from  a 
flaming  heart  than  from  a  cool,  calculating  mind.  He 
had  neither  the  time  nor  the  inclination  to  work  out  a 
synthetic  philosophy.  He  wrote  as  the  spirit  moved 
him,  and  whenever  it  moved  him,  the  keynote  of  all 
his  writing  having  been,  as  he  said  to  me,  "the  hasten- 
ing of  the  day  when  men  will  dwell  together  in  the 
bonds  of  love,  and  sin  and  suffering  will  be  no  more." 

There  are  in  the  Tolstoyan  system  of  religion  the 
elements  of  the  long  dreamed-of  universal  creed.  It 
will  take  time  for  the  rooting  of  it.  Mormonism  and 
Dowieism  spring  up,  like  Jonah's  gourd,  and  pass  away 
as  speedily  as  they  came.  A  system  as  rational  and 
radical  as  that  of  Tolstoy  requires  an  age  for  germina- 
tion. But,  once  it  takes  root,  it  takes  root  for  ever; 
once  it  blossoms,  it  blossoms  for  eternity. 

The  incident  which  I  am  about  to  relate  occurred 
in  Russia,  on  a  July  evening,  1894.  In  the  course 
of  the  evening  meal,  which  I  was  privileged  to  share 
with  Count  Tolstoy  and  his  family,  a  peasant  entered 
with  the  mail  and  presented  it  to  the  Count.  With 
considerable  eagerness  he  freed  a  newspaper  from  its 
wrapper,  and,  turning  its  pages,  stopped  at  one  of 


90  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

them,  and  presently  gave  vent  to  a  number  of  chuckles. 
To  an  inquiry  by  one  of  his  family  as  to  what  amused 
him,  he  held  up  the  paper,  which  certainly  presented 
a  strange  appearance.  Large  black  ink  blotches  in 
several  places  in  each  column  disfigured  its  printed 
matter,  and  made  it  look  more  like  a  black  and  white 
checkerboard  than  a  printed  page.  Turning  to 
me,  he  said  that  the  blackening  of  his  articles,  or 
parts  of  them,  was  nothing  new  to  him.  What 
amused  him  was  that  the  unsmeared  parts  were  far 
more  radical  than  those  which  the  censor's  ink  roller 
had  made  illegible,  proving  to  him  conclusively  that 
publications  of  his  were  being  blackened  without 
even  being  read,  on  the  theory  that  anything  he  wrote 
must  of  necessity  be  dangerous,  and  bear  the  censor's 
mark  of  disapproval.  "I  believe, "  continued  he,  "that 
if  I  were  to  publish  a  copy  of  the  Ten  Commandments 
under  my  name,  half  of  them  would  be  blotted  out  as 
dangerous  reading.  The  fools  do  not  seem  to  know 
that  by  blotting  out  parts,  they  whet  the  reader's 
desire  for  perusing  all,  and  incite  him  to  obtain  un- 
tampered  copies  clandestinely." 

He  then  told  me  that  that  particular  article  was  one 
of  a  series  he  was  publishing,  under  the  title  of  "Chris- 
tianity and  Patriotism"  in  a  London  newspaper,  in  the 
Daily  Standard  I  believe,  not  having  been  permitted  to 
publish  them  in  the  Russian  tongue  in  his  own  country. 
In  them  he  showed  that  Christianity  and  patriotism 
are  incompatible,  that  the  latter  is  an  artificial 
creation,  skilfully  fostered  by  rulers  for  their  own 
benefit.  On  account  of  it  wars  are  waged,  and  no  end 


RUSSIA'S  JEWISH  PEOPLE  91 

of  other  evils  are  wrought,  and  sufferings  are  inflicted 
by  Christians  against  Christians,  who,  religiously, 
are  taught  to  love  each  other,  to  do  good  to  one 
another,  and  who  patriotically  are  taught  to  despise 
or  hate  or  overreach  each  other.  He  regarded  patriot- 
ism as  both  stupid  and  immoral,  stupid  because  every 
country  regarded  itself  superior  to  all  others,  and 
immoral,  because  it  lures  nations  to  possess  themselves 
of  advantages  at  the  cost  of  the  others,  thus  violating 
the  fundamental  law  of  morality,  that  of  not  doing 
unto  others  that  which  we  do  not  want  others  to  do 
unto  us.  When  rulers  or  diplomats  have  certain  ends 
in  view,  some  land  greed  to  gratify,  they  excite 
enthusiastic  patriotism  at  home  by  inciting  hatred 
against  the  country  to  be  victimized,  and  deluded 
citizens  murder  and  cripple  each  other  by  the  thou- 
sands, paralyze  their  respective  country's  commerce 
and  industry,  bring  untold  sufferings  upon  countless 
innocents,  in  the  belief  that  they  are  serving  their 
own  best  interests,  when  they  are  only  gratifying 
diplomats'  ambitions,  or  rulers'  covetousness,  or 
assuring  the  permanence  of  parasitical  dynasties. 
Patriotism,  therefore,  is  the  strongest  ally  of  rulers 
in  the  promotion  of  war,  and  in  the  prevention  of 
the  earth-wide  establishment  of  the  brotherhood  of 
man. 

I  must  confess  that  I  was  somewhat  taken  aback 
by  his  severe  strictures  on  patriotism,  which  I  had, 
up  till  then,  regarded  as  one  of  the  noblest  sentiments 
of  the  human  heart,  and  I,  therefore,  ventured,  later 
in  the  evening,  when  seated  with  him  in  the  arbour, 


92  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

to  ask  for  some  further  light  on  this  new,  and  to  me 
startling,  teaching. 

Complying  with  my  wish,  he  related  how,  a  few 
years  back,  a  well-known  French  agitator  visited  him, 
while  on  his  mission  to  Russia  to  prepare  the  ground 
for  a  Franco-Russian  alliance.  This  visitor  frequently 
referred,  with  sentimental  pride,  to  the  sacred  pledge 
he  had  given  himself  and  his  country  never  to  cease 
agitating  for  war  with  Germany  until  France  redeemed 
her  lost  military  glory.  He  pleaded  for  the  Count's 
espousal  of  the  proposed  alliance,  claiming  that,  as  a 
patriotic  Russian,  he  must  recognize  the  wisdom  of 
crushing  or  weakening  so  powerful  a  neighbour  as 
Germany.  His  pleading  met  with  no  success.  Tol- 
stoy showed  him  the  absurdity  of  his  arguments. 
Germany  defeated  France  at  Sedan,  he  said,  because 
France  had  defeated  Germany  at  Jena;  and  if  France 
were  to  defeat  Germany  now,  it  would  only  mean 
that  Germany  would  have  to  defeat  France  sometime 
in  the  future.  To  his  argument  that  France  was 
duty-bound  to  liberate  the  people  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine,  and  to  restore  them  t6  where  they  belonged, 
Tolstoy  answered  that  these  two  provinces  had 
belonged  to  Germany  seven  hundred  years,  and  that 
that  country  had  only  reconquered  what  was  her  own. 
As  far  as  the  people  are  concerned  they  are  no  less 
free  and  happy  under  German  government  than  they 
were  under  French.  Barring  a  few  hot-heads,  they 
would  rather  be  left  at  peace  than  see.  their  lands 
again  made  the  scenes  of  horrible  war.  Tolstoy  then 
asked  the  Frenchman  whether  he  considered  himself 


RUSSIA'S  JEWISH  PEOPLE  93 

a  Christian.  Upon  receiving  an  emphatic  "yes"  for 
answer,  he  asked  him  how  he  could  reconcile  Christ's 
teaching  of  love  and  forgiveness  with  his  own  thirst 
for  revenge  ?  He  replied  that  patriotism  is  as  necessary 
as  Christianity,  and  both  must  be  cherished  alike, 
even  if,  at  times,  they  are  diametrically  opposed  to 
each  other.  Striking  an  attitude,  he  added,  "In 
church,  I  am  a  Christian,  in  politics  I  am  a  French 
patriot!"  ' 

Together  they  proceeded  into  the  fields,  where  they 
came  across  a  peasant.  Tolstoy  stopped  him,  and, 
calling  him  by  name,  told  him  that  his  guest  wanted  him 
and  all  the  Russians  to  help  France  to  fight  Germany. 
"Fight  for  what?"  asked  the  peasant.  "To  get  two 
provinces  back,"  answered  Tolstoy,  "which  France 
lost  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. "  The  peasant  stared 
at  the  stranger,  and  finally,  turning  to  Tolstoy,  asked, 
"  Is  he  a  fool  or  does  he  think  we  are  fools, "  and  away 
he  went.  "Who  was  the  wiser  of  the  two,"  Tolstoy 
asked  me,"  the  simple-minded,  simply  clothed,  labour- 
bronzed,  unlettered  Moujik,  or  the  well-fed,  well- 
groomed,  white-skinned  politician,  with  a  silk  hat, 
long  coat  of  latest  cut,  and  patent-leather  shoes? 
That  peasant's  answer  was  the  voice  of  the  people; 
the  politician's  was  the  serpent's  voice.  As  the  peas- 
ant spoke,  so  think  the  people  in  their  hearts,  until 
the  serpent's  tongue  beguiles  them  into  doing  what 
they  would  never  think  of  doing  were  they  following 
the  bidding  of  their  conscience. 

"If  patriotism  is  as  innate  as  is  generally  claimed," 
continued  Tolstoy,  "  why  do  nations  go  to  such  trouble 


94  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

in  inculcating  it  ?  Let  them  stop  compelling  people  to 
swear  allegiance  to  every  new  monarch,  let  them 
cease  saying  prayers  for  him,  celebrating  his  birth- 
days, placing  his  pictures  in  public  halls,  and  his 
monument  in  public  squares,  printing  his  name  in 
capital  letters  in  prayer-books,  calendars,  and  text- 
books, imprisoning  people  for  speaking  ill  of  him, 
dazzling  the  people's  eyes  and  befogging  their  minds 
by  means  of  pomp  and  show  and  glitter,  crowns  and 
sceptres,  gaudy  uniforms,  military  bands,  medals 
and  ranks,  fireworks  and  triumphal  arches — let  them 
cease  doing  such  things  and  they  will  soon  discover 
how  much  patriotism  is  inborn,  how  much  of  it  is  of 
spontaneous  growth,  and  how  much  of  it  is  forced 
upon  the  people. 

"Patriotism,  therefore,  as  commonly  understood, " 
concluded  Tolstoy,  "is  for  rulers  a  means  for  gratifying 
their  lust  of  land  or  power,  and  for  the  people  a  renun- 
ciation of  their  God-given  intellect,  a  surrender  of 
fundamental  teachings  of  their  religion.  Conceived  in 
that  sense,  patriotism  is  but  a  form  of  slavery,  and 
the  patriot  often  but  his  monarch's  executioner. 
End  this  blind  patriotism,  and  you  end  war  at  the 
same  time,  for  people  will  then  be  no  longer  willing 
to  sacrifice  themselves  for  the  aggrandizement  of 
their  ruler,  or  of  his  diplomats  or  of  his  military  chiefs. 
Remove  this  blind  patriotism,  and  the  profession  of 
the  diplomat  will  be  gone.  There  will  then  be  no 
quarrel  between  nations  which  arbitration  courts 
will  not  adjudicate.  Remove  this  blind  patriotism, 
and  nations  will  establish  their  cause  by  the  law  of 


Poor  Peasants. 


RUSSIA'S  JEWISH  PEOPLE  95 

right  instead  of  by  the  force  of  might.  Remove  blind 
patriotism,  and  you  will  enthrone  religion  among 
the  nations.  Let  people  cease  to  be  false  patriots, 
and  they  will  become  true  Christians. " 


X 
Russia's  Religion 

THE  spirit  of  true  religious  liberty  is  working  like 
good  leaven  within  their  institutions  as  they  now 
exist.  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  within  them. 

Toleration  of  all  religions  which  do  not  violate 
public  morality  or  good  order  exists  in  Russia, 
and  not  to  profess  the  Orthodox  Greek  faith,  the 
national  religion,  does  not  disqualify  for  the  en- 
joyment of  any  civil  rights. 

James  B.  Reynolds  recently  wrote  in  the  Chris- 
tian Union  of  New  York  as  follows: 

Last  year  in  Russia  I  met  a  number  of  people 
prominent  in  the  Russian  Church,  and  heard  much  of 
the  spirit  of  their  leaders.  There  certainly  has  been 
a  decided  awakening  in  recent  years.  Of  Father 
Antonio,  now  at  the  head  of  the  great  theological 
seminary  near  Moscow,  I  was  told  how  he  often 
gathered  his  students  together  and  gave  them  informal 
talks  on  personal  piety,  such  as  theological  students 
rarely  receive  and  greatly  need.  In  talking  with  the 
wife  of  the  military  governor  of  the  district  of  Moscow, 

96 


RUSSIA'S  RELIGION  97 

I  was  much  impressed  with  the  genuine  respect  which 
she  showed  for  the  Russian  clergy,  especially  as  her 
own  ideas  of  personal  religion  revealed  a  depth  of 
spiritual  life  commanding  the  highest  admiration.  In 
a  long  chat  with  the  Countess  Tolstoy  about  many 
features  of  their  national  life,  I  gained  the  impression 
that  she  also  felt  that  there  was  at  least  a  strong  and 
growing  element  in  the  Russian  clergy  which  sought  to 
command  respect  by  broad  and  thorough  scholarship 
and  practical  love  and  sympathy  for  their  fellow-men. 
In  conversation  with  a  young  tutor  of  the  Moscow 
theological  seminary,  I  certainly  gained  the  impres- 
sion of  one  well  posted  on  his  subject,  which  was  the 
philosophy  of  religion. 

Doubtless  many  may  feel  that  the  Holy  Synod  is 
severely  repressive  within  the  Orthodox  Church  as  well 
as  without,  on  all  "tendencies  of  modern  thought"; 
but  just  now  certainly  they  cannot  be  conceded 
to  have  a  monopoly  in  that  line  of  business.  The 
Russian  Church  shows  the  deficiencies  of  a  State 
Establishment  whose  theory  is  to  include  all  men 
within  the  pale  of  the  Church,  and  then  make  Chris- 
tians of  them  afterwards.  This  naturally  leads  to 
unworthy  clerical  as  well  as  lay  members.  But  there 
has  been  progress.  I  believe  a  majority  of  the  leaders 
of  that  division  of  the  Christian  Church  are  conse- 
crated men  trying  to  do  their  best  with  the  mighty 
responsibilities  of  their  position,  and  I  agree  with  Mr. 
Gribaye'doff  in  saying  of  the  Russian  Greek  Church: 
"It  has  a  great  mission  to  perform,  and,  on  the  whole, 
is  doing  its  work  nobly. " 


98  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

The  peasants  as  a  rule  are  religious,  in  the  best 
sense  of  that  word,  for  they  are  always  willing  to 
divide  their  loaf  of  bread  with  the  pilgrim  and 
stranger.  They  are  devoted  to  their  faith  and  to 
the  performance  of  their  vows  whether  as  members 
of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  great  majority,  or  of  the  numerous  Protestant 
sects  existing  and  thriving  under  the  protection 
of  the  Government.  They  recognize  God's  sover- 
eignty, but  have  never  learned  the  great  under- 
lying principle  of  all  religions  that  have  been  of 
great  help  to  humanity  in  every  age, — that  the 
Almighty  Ruler  works  in  the  affairs  of  men  through 
human  agencies,  of  whom  He  only  requires  that 
they  shall  be  co-workers  with  Him,  seeking  to  know 
His  laws  and  then  conforming  their  own  laws  and 
lives  thereto.  They  are  very  suspicious,  therefore, 
of  every  effort  to  change  the  existing  order  of  their 
lives.  Often  they  resist  measures  to  stay  the 
progress  of  disease  and  to  arrest  the  approach  of 
death  lest  thereby  they  be  contending  against  the 
will  of  God.  If  a  child  falls  into  a  river  or  brook 
they  make  no  effort  to  save  its  life,  believing  that 
God  has  ordained  that  it  should  die  in  that  way. 
This  conviction  not  only  robs  them  of  every  incen- 


RUSSIA'S  RELIGION  99 

tive  to  use  their  own  free  wills  and  intellectual 
faculties  to  advance  themselves  and  their  children 
in  the  scale  of  civilization,  but  it  carries  them  into 
the  outer  darkness  of  a  blind  fatalism.  They 
firmly  believe  that  their  Emperor  is  the  vicegerent 
of  Almighty  God.  They  are  generally  loyal, 
therefore,  to  the  "powers  that  be"  while  they 
are  meekly  submissive  to  their  desperate  lot. 
Conspiracies  against  the  Government  are  rarely  fo- 
mented among  them,  but  in  so  far  as  they  are  ever 
discovered,  they  are  traced  to  the  official  classes  or 
the  military,  or  to  men  of  the  universities.  But 
whilst  holding  their  Emperor  in  highest  reverence, 
the  peasants  are  wont  to  regard  the  under  officials 
and  in  some  measure  the  clergy  with  feelings  akin 
to  contempt.  Their  ability  to  discriminate,  how- 
ever, between  their  real  friends  among  those 
dignitaries  and  those  whom  they  regard  as 
mere  incumbrances,  is  quite  remarkable.  Men 
on  their  knees  on  the  street  curbstones  pray- 
ing before  an  Icon  are  examples  of  their  church 
loyalty.  On  entering  the  door  of  a  post- 
office  everyone  is  obliged  to  remove  his  hat 
and  bow  before  the  Icon;  and  even  when  en- 
tering a  bank,  business  office,  or  shop,  the  hat 


ioo  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

must  come  off,  particularly  if  there  are  ladies  in 
the  building. 

Among  many  appreciative  letters  that  I  have 
received  are  the  following  from  Counts  Paul 
and  Vladimir  Bobrinskoy: 

BOGORODITSK,    TULA   GOVT., 

3  August,  1892. 

MR.  FRANCIS  B.  REEVES. 
DEAR  SIR: 

It  was  with  the  greatest  pleasure  I  read  your  letter 
and  would  have  answered  long  before  but  I  had  much 
work  attending  the  harvest  in  the  farms.  I  was  so 
glad  to  know  you  had  a  happy  journey  and  carried 
away  a  good  impression  of  our  country.  I  am  sorry  to 
tell  you  that  since  you  left  us  a  very  strong  dysentery 
broke  out  even  among  the  grown-up  people;  the 
babies  were  carried  off  in  great  numbers,  as  the  food 
this  year  was  far  from  being  suitable  to  withstand 
this  disease. 

As  regards  the  crops  it  is  most  lamentable;  the  rye 
and  the  wheat  in  some  localities  and  in  ours  also  were 
dried  up  from  want  of  rain  and  next  December  we 
expect  the  distress  to  be  greater  than  that  of  last  year. 
And  to  complete  the  scourge  we  have  already  some 
cases  of  cholera  in  our  district.  It  was  distressing 
for  me  to  read  in  today's  paper  that  in  one  of  the 
districts  south  of  the  river  Don,  900  took  the  cholera 
and  500  of  them  died  of  it.  We  are  very  busy  in  pre- 
paring hospitals  and  different  preventative  means  to 


RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW  101 

battle  with  that  fearful  disease.  It  was  so  sad  that  the 
Red  Cross  and  the  Zems  too  had  to  spend  the  money 
that  would  have  gone  towards  relieving  the  hungry 
for  the  cholera  preparations. 

I  am  very  sorry  to  give  you  so  many  bad  accounts  of 
our  poor  country,  but  we  feel  also  that  your  sympathy 
and  interest  will  be  a  great  encouragement  for  us. 
This  year  I  shall  not  be  able  to  accomplish  my  great 
desire  of  visiting  your  beautiful  country,  as  it  is  my 
time  of  military  service.  Thank  you  for  your  kind 
remembrance  of  us  all  and  believe  me,  dear  sir, 

Yours  gratefully, 

PAUL  A.  BOBRINSKOY. 


BOGORODITSK,  GOV.  OF  TULA,  RUSSIA, 

12  March,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  REEVES  : 

I  am  very  sorry  that  I  could  not  find  time  until  now 
to  write  and  thank  you  on  my  own  behalf  and  on 
behalf  of  my  uncle,  R.  Pizareff,  for  your  kind  help  in 
our  work  this  second  year  of  famine. 

The  Petersburg  American  Relief  Committee,  with 
the  Hon.  A.  D.  White  at  its  head,  has  sent  me  3200 
roubles,  R.  Pizareff  3600  roubles  and  my  cousin  Andrei 
Bobrinskoy,  3200  roubles,  in  all  10,000. 

I  trust  you  will  transmit  to  the  Mayor  of  Phila- 
delphia and  to  the  Philadelphia  Committee  our  very 
sincere  thanks  for  this  most  timely  help. 

Through  you  I  have  also  received  70  roubles  50 
copeks  (37  dollars  37  cents)  from  a  Sunday  School 


102  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

class.  Pray  tell  the  children  that  their  truly  Christian 
Charity  will  go  to  help  the  sick  with  hunger  typhus, 
who  are  very  numerous  this  terrible  year. 

Allow  me  to  express  once  more  my  most  hearty 
thanks  and  believe  me 

Your  most  obedient  and  thankful  servant, 
VLADIMIR  BOBRINSKOY. 

Mr.  W.  Barnes  Steveni,  special  correspondent 
of  the  London  Daily  Chronicle,  who  had  made  a 
tour  through  famine-stricken  Russia  early  in  1892, 
wrote  as  follows  of  his  visit  at  the  home  of  the 
Bobrinskoys : 

On  one  of  their  estates  they  had  established  a 
priute  or  Children's  Home.  This  the  Count  took  me 
to  in  the  afternoon.  I  found  there  dozens  of  children, 
whose  appearance  bore  eloquent  testimony  to  the  kind 
treatment  they  had  received.  Some  of  the  parents, 
the  Count  told  me,  had  died  from  cold,  hunger,  or 
disease;  the  others  were  totally  unable  to  provide  for 
their  offspring. 

In  the  management  of  this  home  the  Countess 
Bobrinskoy — an  exceedingly  pretty  and  refined  lady — 
found  plenty  of  congenial  and  womanly  occupation. 
In  spite  of  the  atmosphere  of  the  place  being  anything 
but  fresh,  she,  personally,  saw  that  the  wants  of  the 
little  ones  were  properly  attended  to.  "We  are  care- 
ful," she  said,  "not  to  admit  the  little  starvelings  to 


§ 


RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW  103 

the  home  without  first  washing  them  thoroughly  with 
carbolic  and  water.  We  feed  them  on  milk,  bread, 
and  various  farinaceous  foods,  and  find  that  they 
flourish  so  well  on  this  diet  that  it  will  be  necessary 
for  us,  before  we  send  them  back  to  their  parents, 
gradually  to  accustom  them  to  the  harder  fare  which 
will  be  their  lot.  A  sudden  change  of  diet  would  be 
sure  to  produce  disastrous  results. " 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  Bobrinskoys  practice 
what  they  preach.  They  are  all  staunch  teetotalers. 
I  was  not,  therefore,  surprised  to  find  that  they  were 
held  in  high  esteem  by  the  peasantry.  To  find  this 
good  feeling  existing  between  a  Russian  noble  and  his 
former  serfs  gave  me  the  greatest  pleasure,  especially 
as  my  preconceived  notion  of  the  Russian  aristocracy 
was  that  that  body  was  an  idle,  worthless  set.  My 
experiences  during  my  journey  have  convinced  me 
that  this  view  was  erroneous.  The  present  crisis,  I  am 
glad  to  say,  has  proved  that  there  exist  in  Russia 
many  nobles  of  whom  any  country  might  be  proud. 
That  so  little  change  should  have  taken  place  in  the 
relations  between  the  Bobrinskoys  and  the  peasantry 
since  Alexander  II.  issued  his  edict  of  emancipation  is 
greatly  to  the  credit  of  this  family.  It  was  with  much 
regret  that  I  left  the  hospitable  roof  of  the  Bobrin- 
skoys. I  shall  never  forget  the  unceasing  kindness 
which  they  showed  to  the  distressed  around  them,  and 
to  me,  not  only  a  complete  stranger  to  them,  but  a 
foreigner  as  well.  Such  noble-minded  people  fully 
deserve  the  high  position  which  they  hold  amongst 
the  principal  families  of  this  country. 


104  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

CZAR  ALEXANDER   III.  SENDS   BEAUTIFUL   GIFTS   TO 

THE    PHILADELPHIA    RUSSIAN    FAMINE    RELIEF 

COMMISSIONERS 

The  2Oth  of  May,  1893,  I  received  the  following 
telegram  from  Prince  Cantacuzen,  Russian  Am- 
bassador to  the  United  States: 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

MR.  FRANCIS  3.  REEVES, 

20  S.  Front. 

I  would  be  very  pleased  to  see  you  on  the  27th  of 
May,  1 1  o'clock,  on  board  Russian  Flagship,  Dimitry 
Donskoi,  in  Philadelphia,  to  tender  to  you  in  presence 
of  our  brilliant  sailors  and  on  Russian  soil  a  souvenir 
his  Majesty,  the  Emperor,  ordered  me  to  give  in  his 
name  to  the  American  gentlemen  who  visited  Russia 
during  the  trying  year  1892,  with  hearts  and  hands 
full  of  loving  help.  Will  you  kindly  pass  same  invita- 
tion to  Mr.  Biddle  and  Mr.  Blankenburg,  as  I  don't 
know  their  addresses. 

CANTACUZEN. 

The  day  named,  May  27,  1893,  was  the  tenth 
anniversary  of  the  coronation  of  the  Czar,  Alexan- 
der III. 

The   flagship,    Dimitry   Donskoi,   was    accom- 


SHIPS  WITH  GIFTS  105 

panied  by  another  Russian  warship,  the  Rynda, 
both  of  them  anchoring  in  the  Delaware  River, 
dressed  in  holiday  attire  with  flags  from  stem  to 
stern.  Cannon  roared  the  Imperial  salute,  and 
Philadelphians  were  treated  to  the  unusual  spec- 
tacle of  warships  of  a  foreign  nation  celebrating 
one  of  its  most  important  holidays. 

Prince  Cantacuzen  presented  to  the  Relief  Com- 
missioners the  following  letter,  all  of  them  being 
present  excepting  Mr.  Blankenburg,  who  at  that 
time  was  in  Japan: 

RUSSIAN  IMPERIAL  LEGATION,  WASHINGTON, 

May  27,  1893. 

DEAR  SIR: 

Before  leaving  my  country  for  the  United  States  I 
had  the  great  satisfaction  to  receive  a  special  order  of 
His  Majesty,  the  Emperor,  my  most  gracious  Sover- 
eign, to  present  tokens  of  His  Majesty's  gratitude  to 
the  American  citizens,  who,  moved  by  philanthropic 
and  friendly  feelings  towards  the  suffering  population 
of  our  country,  came  over  to  Russia  last  year  and 
attended  personally  the  distribution  of  the  aid,  for 
which  they  contributed  largely  with  the  generous 
American  people. 

I  avail  myself  of  the  presence  of  our  men-of-war  in 
Philadelphia,  from  which  harbour  sailed  the  first  ship 
with  flour  for  Russia,  to  tender  to  you,  dear  Sir,  on  the 
day  of  the  Coronation  of  Their  Majesties,  this  case 


106  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

containing  a  piece  of  Russian  art,  as  a  remembrance 
of  the  feelings  you  left  behind  you. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

CANTACUZEN. 
MR.  F.  B.  REEVES. 

Bishop  Nicolas,  of  San  Francisco,  the  prelate 
of  the  Russian  Church  in  America,  conducted  the 
service,  which  was  one  of  the  highest  of  the  church. 
He  was  assisted  by  Fathers  Andronik  and  Irakli, 
the  priests  of  the  Donskoi  and  Rynda. 

The  portable  altar  which  the  flagship  carried, 
with  pictures  of  saints  and  other  paraphernalia, 
was  set  up  on  the  starboard  side  of  the  gun  deck. 
The  crew  of  the  vessel,  with  Admiral  Kaznakoff, 
Captain  Zelenoy,  the  Grand  Duke  Alexander, 
and  other  officers  at  their  head,  were  ranged  on 
the  deck  before  the  altar.  Detachments  of  the 
officers  and  crew  of  the  Rynda  occupied  the  port 
side  of  the  deck.  Bishop  Nicolas  wore  vestments 
of  purple,  with  the  peculiar  Russian  hat  with  its 
black  veil.  The  best  singers  of  the  vessels  formed 
a  choir,  and  a  large  part  of  the  service  consisted 
of  the  intonation  of  the  liturgy.  The  service 
lasted  over  an  hour  and  closed  with  the  Bishop's 
blessing  and  prayer  for  the  royal  family  of  Russia. 


Heavily  Gold-Plated  Punch  Set. 

On  top  of  the  case  is  a  brass  plate  on  which  is  engraved 
MR.  F.  B.  REEVES 

IN   REMEMBRANCE   OF   YOUR 

VISIT  TO    RUSSIA 

1892 


SHIPS  WITH  GIFTS  107 

Then,  at  a  word  from  the  Admiral,  a  round  of 
cheers  for  the  President  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  was  given,  and  the  band  played 
Hail  Columbia,  while  all  remained  uncovered. 

The  gifts  to  the  Commissioners  were  as  follows : 

For  Rudolph  Blankenburg,  a  bowl  and  salver, 
gilt  and  enamel,  the  tone  of  the  latter  ornamenta- 
tion being  blue. 

To  F.  B.  Reeves,  a  punch  bowl  about  seven 
inches  in  diameter,  five  drinking  cups,  a  large 
platter  and  a  ladle.  All  were  of  silver,  heavily 
gilded  and  beautifully  figured. 

To  Colonel  A.  J.  Drexel,  Jr.,  a  Russian  "loving 
cup"  of  gilded  silver,  with  lid  and  handle,  about  a 
foot  in  height. 

To  Dr.  Biddle,  a  silver-gilt  enamelled  cup. 

Each  present  rested  in  a  satin-lined  box  of 
polished  oak,  which  bore  on  the  outside  a  plate 
having  the  name  of  the  recipient  and  the  sentence  : 
"In  remembrance  of  your  journey  to  Russia, 
1892." 

Gifts  from  the  Czar  were  presented  also  to  the 
following  named  gentlemen  who  had  rendered 
valued  services  in  the  relief  work  of  America  for 
Russia:  C.  M.  Reeves,  S.  Klopsch,  Dr.  Hubbell, 


io8  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

W.  C.  Edgar,  E.  S.  Phelps,  and  Rev.  Dr.  T.  De- 
Witt  Talmage. 

This  majestic  event  of  international  courtesy 
did  not  terminate  with  the  presentation  of  these 
gifts. 

A  luncheon  was  given  from  one  o'clock  to  three 
o'clock  P.  M.,  by  Admiral  Kaznazoff  to  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Russian  Government  at  Wash- 
ington ;  his  American  guests  (among  them  all  who 
had  received  gifts),  and  a  few  of  his  officers. 

The  day's  festivities  were  followed  by  a  brilliant 
illumination  of  the  Russian  ships  with  coloured 
electric  lights,  which  an  admiring  crowd  viewed 
from  the  shore.  From  the  stern  of  the  Donskoi 
there  was  a  continual  display  of  fireworks. 

On  the  flagship  a  large  initial  "A,"  the  first 
letter  of  the  Czar's  name,  was  topped  by  a  crown 
of  coloured  lights. 

After  the  luncheon  a  party  of  ladies,  chaperoned 
by  Mrs.  A.  J.  Drexel,  Jr.,  was  taken  aboard  the 
flagship.  One  of  her  officers  said  that  over  a 
thousand  people  had  been  on  board  and  that  the 
visitors  greatly  outnumbered  those  received  when 
the  ship  was  in  New  York.  "  It  is  no  annoyance," 
he  added,  "we  came  here  to  see  you  and  for  you 


SHIPS  WITH  GIFTS  109 

to  see  us,  and  another  Russian  warship  may  not 
visit  the  United  States  for  years.  Your  gracious 
help  for  Russia  proves  that  your  city  is  rightly 
named  Philadelphia — 'Brotherly  Love. ' " 


XI 

The  Abolition  of  VodKa 

AT  the  time  of  my  visit  nothing  was  said  about 
the  peasants'  addiction  to  strong  drink  and  the 
resulting  drunkenness  and  desperation. 

Vodka  had  not  apparently  been  given  its  proper 
place  in  their  tale  of  woe.  Its  recent  abolition 
by  Czar  Nicholas,  universally  approved  by  all 
his  official  representatives  and  Russia's  best 
people,  has  proven  that  vodka  should  then  have 
been  cursed  as  one  of  the  real  underlying  causes 
of  destitution  when  a  year  of  drouth  was  followed 
by  crop  failure. 

No  greater  blessing  has  ever  been  conferred  upon 
Russia  than  that  heavenward  march  of  the  Czar 
abolishing  vodka  from  his  realm. 

Its  prohibition,  adopted  as  a  war  measure,  is 
likely  to  continue  after  the  war,  according  to 
reports  from  Petrograd.  Before  the  war,  vodka 
was  almost  universally  used  by  the  Russian  masses. 
Many  women,  and  even  children  of  tender  years, 

no 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  VODKA          in 

consumed  the  fiery  liquor,  while  men  used  it  in 
quantities  almost  unbelievable.  The  peasants  are 
now  more  prosperous  than  ever  before  the  war,  and 
this  is  attributed  to  the  saving  of  the  large  sums 
formerly  spent  for  vodka. 

Madame  La  Marquise,  now  faithfully  serving 
the  Red  Cross  Mission,  in  an  article  recently  pub- 
lished by  the  Philadelphia  Evening  Bulletin,  said: 

One  of  the  transformations  that  have  been  work- 
ing to  make  Russia  an  interesting  study  for  other 
peoples  deserves  universal  cognizance.  When  the 
Czar's  ukase  forbidding  future  use  of  the  Muscovite 
whisky  vodka,  was  put  in  force  la  marquise  attended 
in  state  to  see  the  execution  of  the  preliminary  step 
to  the  "water  wagon. " 

At  a  given  hour  all  the  casks  of  vodka  stored  in 
Suwalki  were  taken  to  a  neighboring  hill,  where  a 
formal  ceremonial  inaugurated  the  end  of  the  demon. 
The  enormous  casks  were  "stove  in,"  the  liquor 
coursed  down  the  hillside  in  torrents;  the  regretful 
topers,  as  a  last  tribute,  flung  themselves  prone  on  the 
ground  and  swigged  till  they  were  insensible.  When 
they  could  take  no  more,  they  rolled  in  the  stream 
on  the  ground.  Obviously  the  Czar  realized  what  he 
was  doing  when  he  ventured  to  cut  off  by  a  stroke  of 
the  pen  the  cup  that  doesn't  cheer  but  bestializes,  as 
the  sequel  proves,  for  the  Russian  economists  are 
cheering  the  empire  with  the  incredible  word  that  the 


ii2  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

savings  bank  deposits  have  gone  up  a  billion  rubles 
since  the  water-wagon  replaced  the  bottle.  Nor  is 
the  money  gain  all ;  the  peasantry  left  at  home,  through 
age  or  infirmity,  have  redoubled  in  working  power. 
Russia,  the  land  the  Teutons  disparage,  proves  to  be 
the  only  nation  in  existence  capable  of  decreeing  and 
maintaining  a  reform  which  other  nations  don't 
venture  to  tackle  boldly. 

John  H.  Snodgrass,  Consul  General  at  Moscow, 
said  that  according  to  statistics  gathered  by  a 
reputable  newspaper,  the  consumption  of  vodka 
during  the  months  of  July,  August,  September,  and 
October,  1914,  was  only  a  little  more  than  one- 
tenth  what  it  was  during  the  same  months  of  1913 
— before  the  Czar's  ukase  against  intoxicants;  and 
adds: 

It  is  observed  in  the  manufacturing  concerns 
that  labour  has  become  much  more  productive 
than  before. 

Formerly  at  the  Moscow  mills  many  workmen 
would  not  appear  on  Monday,  and  a  number  of 
those  who  did  were  unfit  for  duty  in  consequence  of 
their  Sunday  excesses.  This  is  no  longer  the  case; 
both  the  quality  and  quantity  of  labour  performed 
have  improved. 


XII 

WHat  THey  Saw  in  Russia   After 
VodKa  Left1 

By  Margaret  Wintringer 

WHILE  in  London  a  letter  of  introduction  secured  for 
me  an  interview  with  Baron  De  Heykind,  the  Russian 
Consul  General.  I  found  the  baron  a  somewhat  stern 
but  courtly  man  of  distinguished  military  appearance. 

I  told  him  how  the  Czar's  ukase  had  been  welcomed 
in  the  United  States,  and  a  look  of  pride,  and  even 
exaltation,  softened  the  naturally  stern  countenance. 
"It  is  the  greatest  and  grandest  national  edict  since 
Moses  gave  a  moral  code  to  the  Jewish  people," 
he  declared  proudly.  "Not  since  the  world  began 
has  any  people  taken  such  an  advanced  step.  Our 
Emperor  has  taken  the  place  in  the  twentieth  century 
that  your  Lincoln  held  in  the  nineteenth  century. 
Only  it  is  greater  to  free  men  from  themselves  than 
from  bondage  to  others.  No  one,  except  the  Saviour 
of  men,  ever  essayed  that  before."  He  spoke  with 
simple  reverence. 

"It  is  a  miracle,"  he  continued,  "the  strength  of 
the  army  and  the  growth  of  the  nation  since  indul- 

1  By  permission  of  The  Continent. 
8 


ii4  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

gence  in  alcohol  has  ceased.  Our  soldiers  face  the  foe 
more  bravely ;  wounds  are  no  longer  feared,  they  heal 
so  quickly — and  those  long  winter  marches,  they  have 
been  made  without  vodka. " 

It  was  hard  to  realize  that  I  was  talking  to  an  officer 
of  the  imperial  army  and  a  member  of  the  Russian 
aristocracy,  when  the  consul  general  enthusiastically 
referred  to  the  democratic  application  of  the  Czar's 
ukase  to  prince  and  peasant,  staff  officer  and  common 
soldier  alike.  It  was  all  so  different  from  the  spirit  of 
military  caste  and  privilege  that  has  grown  up  in  our 
own  republican  army. 

The  grog  ration  of  the  soldiers  gave  way  to  a  money 
allowance  in  1912,  and  early  in  1914  a  new  order 
provided  for  monthly  and  even  weekly  temperance 
lectures  in  the  army. 

The  Russian  government,  which  is  ecclesiastical  as 
well  as  political,  has  always  esteemed  the  sale  of 
intoxicants  iniquitous  and  has  never  recognized  the 
trade's  right  to  compensation.  When  as  a  measure 
of  protection  to  her  people,  Russia  took  over  the 
vodka  traffic  in  1894,  sne  did  not  reimburse  the  liquor 
sellers;  and  the  present  local  option  laws  provide  for 
the  refund  of  a  proportionate  amount  of  the  license 
when  prohibition  takes  effect  previous  to  the  expira- 
tion of  the  license  of  any  retail  dealer. 

I  had  just  read  an  article  on  Russian  prohibition  in 
an  American  magazine,  and  I  ventured  to  refer  to  the 
charge  that  denatured  alcohol  and  other  even  more 
poisonous  substitutes  had  taken  the  place  of  vodka,  to 
the  grave  danger  of  the  Russian  people. 


RUSSIA  AFTER  VODKA  LEFT         115 

The  statement  was  vehemently  denied.  "  If  it  were 
so,  I  would  know  it,"  he  said,"  for  I  am  in  daily  receipt 
of  government  reports  and  they  all  say  that  never  was 
Russia  so  sober.  You  manufacture  much  in  America," 
said  the  consul  general,  "and  this  [referring  to  the 
magazine  article]  was  manufactured  in  your  country. 
It  is  one  of  the  lies  of  the  trade.  It  is  natural  to  lie 
when  the  truth  will  hurt;  Madame  need  not  believe 
that  I  know  nothing  of  such  evasions. " 

"  But  since  I  came  here  I  have  been  told  that  many 
people  have  died  in  Russia  from  drinking  methylated 
spirits,"  I  urged. 

The  answer  came  with  startling  emphasis. 

"Let  them  die!  It  is  better  for  Russia  that  they 
should  die.  They  are  a  disgrace  to  their  country  and  a 
burden  to  their  wives  and  children.  We  cannot  kill 
them.  Let  them  kill  themselves.  Why  weep  over 
the  death  of  a  few  old  drunkards  when,  under  our 
most  gracious  Emperor's  beneficent  ukase,  Russia  is 
saving  millions  of  youth  from  a  degraded  life  and  an 
ignoble  death?  When  these  drunkards  go,  there  will 
be  no  boys  to  follow  them.  Russia  is  facing  the 
future.  She  will  conserve  her  youth. " 

To  my  blundering  inquiry  as  to  whether  he  was 
following  the  Cz'ar's  example,  the  consul  general 
replied  frigidly  and  with  hurt  pride:  "Madame,  I  am 
a  devoted  and  loyal  subject  of  Russia's  most  noble 
ruler." 

The  woman's  viewpoint  on  this  interesting  subject 
was  gained  one  bright  April  day  in  Paris,  when  Ma- 
demoiselle D'Aubigne",  daughter  of  the  author  of 


ii6  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

the  History  of  the  Reformation,  suggested  a  call  upon 
Madame  Louise  Kruppi,  who  had  just  returned 
from  a  tour  of  Russia. 

Madame  Kruppi  is  one  of  the  noted  women  of 
France.  Through  the  establishment  of  trade  schools, 
she  has  enabled  soldiers'  wives  and  widows  to  become 
self-supporting.  Already  classes  have  been  formed  in 
fourteen  trades  and  professions.  Her  visit  to  Russia 
was  partly  a  government  mission  to  gain  information 
from  the  technical  schools  for  which  Russia  is  famous, 
which  would  advance  her  own  undertaking. 

Like  Professor  Simpson,  she  prefaced  the  interview 
with  the  confession  that  she  went  to  Russia  neither  a 
prohibitionist  nor  teetotaler. 

"And  now,"  she  piquantly  explained,  "I  am  both. 
I  am  everything  that  will  bring  to  my  country  the 
blessings  I  found  in  Russia.  At  first  it  was  hard  to 
give  up  wine,  but  if,  in  a  city  of  two  millions,  one  can- 
not get  it,  one  must  do  without;  and  it  was  so  in 
Petrograd.  Moscow  was  as  bad,  I  mean  as  good," 
was  the  smiling  correction,  "for  one  could  not  get  it 
there. " 

"Oh,"  she  replied  to  my  suggestion,  "they  have 
temperance  drinks,  but  they  are  frightful!"  The 
statement  was  accompanied  with  a  charming  moue 
and  with  an  expressive  shrug  of  the  shoulders.  And 
then  madame  suddenly  became  grave. 

"  It  is  strange,  is  it  not,"  she  mused, ' '  that  in  France 
we  not  only  drink  but  think  wine.  Nothing  is  good 
that  is  not  wine.  But  that  is  a  mistake,  as  I  learned 
in  Russia.  The  temperance  drinks  were  nice,  very 


RUSSIA  AFTER  VODKA  LEFT         117 

nice — If  you  did  not  taste  them, "  she  added  mischiev- 
ously. "I  could  drink  anything  and  like  it  that 
would  bring  to  French  women  the  happiness  I  saw 
among  the  Russian  women. 

"They  seemed  to  have  become  young  again.  Per- 
haps," Madame  Kruppi  said  laughingly,  "it  was 
because  since  there  is  no  vodka,  marriage  is  so  much 
cheaper.  When  vodka  was  furnished  the  guests  it 
cost  from  60  to  100  francs;  now  the  wedding  feast  may 
cost  but  30  francs.  So  now,  the  young  couples  can 
marry. 

"And  then  family  life  has  become  beautiful,  for  the 
Russian  is  not  unkind  to  his  wife  and  children  when 
he  is  without  vodka.  Since  alcohol,  the  twin  sister  of 
lust,  has  disappeared,  the  shackles  have  fallen  from 
many  poor  white  slaves;  and  while  war  has  in- 
creased prostitution  in  all  other  I  countries,  in  Rus- 
sia the  evil  has  diminished  nearly  one  half.  Women 
should  remember  that  and  enter  the  fight,  for 
with  one  blow  they  strike  the  two  worst  foes  of 
womanhood. 

"And  then  prohibition  will  give  the  vote  to  women," 
Madame  Kruppi  added.  "Already  the  Council  of 
the  Empire  has  actually  adopted  a  bill  that  would  have 
given  women  the  right  to  vote  in  local  option  matters. 
And  to  make  prohibition  secure,  the  vote  will  surely 
come  to  woman. 

"The  people  are  saving  money.  They  are  turning 
the  "empty  vodka  shops  into  savings  banks.  They 
are  spending  money,  too,  for  new  clothes  for  them- 
selves and  new  gowns  for  the  women.  Yes,  and  they 


ii8  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

are  buying  meat  twice  a  week  instead  of  twice  a 
month." 

Madame  Kruppi,  who  is  actively  interested  in 
the  establishment  of  free  libraries  in  her  own  country, 
was  greatly  impressed  by  the  intellectual  awakening 
that  has  followed  the  Czar's  ukase. 

"The  craving  for  drink  has  been  replaced  by  a 
thirst  for  knowledge.  The  people  are  reading  books 
and  playing  on  musical  instruments.  France,  Italy, 
Britain,  and  Germany,"  she  declared,  "have  given 
their  art  and  literature  to  the  world;  but  Russia  has 
yet  to  give  and  some  day  she  will  lead  the  world. 
Because  she  has  cleaned  herself  and  shown  herself 
strong,  hers  will  be  a  clean  art,  and  a  virile  literature, 
while  the  happiness  of  her  people  will  banish  the 
sombreness  which  has  characterized  both  in  the 
past." 


XIII 

Russia's  Great  Revolution — THe  True 

Story  of  tKe  World's  Most  Gigantic 

Temperance  Experiment I 

By  Margaret  Wintringer 

A  great  army  drunk  and  a  small  army  sober,  and  the  dramatic 
defeat  of  that  great  army,  was  one  of  the  big  factors  in 
Russia's  fight  for  temperance.  America  should  study 
Russia's  experience  because  in  the  more  than  twenty  years 
of  that  fight  the  great  Empire  tried  "  every  restriction  which 
the  frantic  friends  of  a  doomed  traffic  are  clamorously 
urging  in  our  own  country"  before  the  great  culmination  in 
the  Czar's  famous  ukase. 

No  experiment  tried  out  in  the  temperance  labora- 
tory of  Europe  during  the  present  war  has  excited 
such  a  world-wide  interest  as  that  which  has  wrought 
the  regeneration  of  Russia. 

So  marvellous  and  yet  so  simple,  it  made  a  strong 
psychological  appeal  to  the  strain  of  mysticism 
inherent  in  the  Russian  peasant.  It  was  like  a  fairy 
tale,  in  which  the  ukase  of  the  Czar  was  the  enchanted 
wand  which  transformed  by  its  magic  power  that 
ragged,  sodden  peasantry  into  an  awakened  princess 

1  With  permission  of  the  Sunday  School  Times. 
119 


120  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

robed  in  a  noble  ideal  to  become  his  consort  iu  the 
preservation  of  Russia.  The  romance  of  it,  the  dis- 
covery of  themselves,  awakened  in  the  Russian  people 
a  great  patriotism  and  a  depth  of  religious  feeling 
never  before  manifested  by  any  nation. 

The  story  is  so  athrill  with  romance,  inspiration, 
and  dramatic  action,  that  it  only  awaits  a  master  mind 
in  Russia  for  interpretation  into  a  great  Homeric 
epic. 

But  to  us  the  story  of  the  temperance  movement 
in  Russia  is  of  significant  interest,  because  it  is  the 
most  gigantic  experiment  ever  undertaken  in  tem- 
perance reform,  affecting  as  it  has  nearly  two  hun- 
dred million  people  and  extending  over  eight  million 
square  miles  of  territory. 

The  work  began  twenty  years  ago,  and  never  before 
was  reform  inaugurated  under  more  propitious  and 
satisfactory  conditions.  Removed  from  fanaticism 
by  its  conservatism,  assured  against  failure  by  auto- 
cratic power  of  enforcement,  financed  by  an  Imperial 
treasury,  and  clothed  with  respectability  by  the 
Church,  Russia's  scheme  for  temperance  reform  be- 
gan most  auspiciously.  It  was  not  even  hampered 
by  the  necessity  of  returns  on  the  investment,  for  the 
government  took  over  the  vodka  traffic  without  any 
form  of  compensation  to  the  sellers. 

Never  were  such  gala  days  as  when  Russia  opened 
her  state  vodka  shops  in  1894.  Grand-duchesses  par- 
ticipated in  the  inaugural  ceremony,  and  bishops 
blessed  the  drink.  Princes  and  princesses  and  other 
titled  folk  acted  as  bartenders  in  serving  bottles  of 


RUSSIA'S  TEMPERANCE  EXPERIMENT    121 

liquor  that  bore  the  seal  of  the  state  and  whose  purity 
was  attested  by  the  government. 

In  fact,  every  restriction  which  the  frantic  friends 
of  a  doomed  traffic  are  clamorously  urging  in  our 
own  country  was  tried  out  in  Russia  during  the 
nationalization  of  the  traffic.  The  rules  governing 
its  management  read  like  the  recommendations  of  a 
Model  License  League. 

Vodka  was  sold  for  off-the-premise  consumption 
only  in  corked  and  sealed  bottles,  and  not  a  cork- 
screw or  drinking  vessel  was  permitted  in  a  vodka 
shop.  Its  sale  was  prohibited  to  children  and  drunken 
persons.  Wage-earners  were  protected  through  the 
early  closing  on  pay-day  of  all  vodka  shops  near 
factories.  They  were  closed  also  on  certain  religious 
holidays  and  all  days  when  the  village  Council  met. 
The  traffic  was  made  so  respectable  that  school- 
teachers withdrew  from  the  profession  of  learning  to 
become  managers  of  vodka  shops.  The  government 
lent  its  prestige,  and  patrons  were  required  to  remove 
their  caps  on  entering,  as  in  other  Imperial  offices. 

The  government  even  provided  counter  attractions 
to  its  own  liquor  business.  There  were  restaurants 
where  beer  and  light  wines  were  served  only  with 
food  orders,  and  tea  parlours,  concert  halls,  and  other 
places  of  resort  where  the  people  might  meet  for 
social  intercourse  apart  from  intoxicants. 

A  portion  of  the  profits  from  the  sale  of  vodka 
was  devoted  to  an  educational  temperance  campaign; 
and  during  the  year  that  saw  the  opening  of  the  state 
vodka  shops,  seventy  thousand  seven  hundred  tern- 


122  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

perance  lectures  were  delivered  under  government 
auspices  to  audiences  totalling  seven  and  one  half 
million  people. 

To  safeguard  the  movement  from  fanaticism,  the 
government  prohibited  the  formation  of  societies 
advocating  prohibition  and  set  aside  further  profits 
from  the  new  venture  to  the  support  of  a  national 
temperance  society  which  adhered  strictly  to  moder- 
ation. Two  uncles  of  the  Czar  joined  the  movement 
and  the  moral  uplift  of  the  saloon  began  under  ideal 
conditions. 

One  may  wash  a  black  cat,  but  one  cannot  make  it 
white.  So  the  plunge  into  respectability  failed  to 
remove  a  whit  of  the  blackness  of  the  liquor  traffic. 
Within  two  years  the  would-be  reformers  learned 
that  restriction  is  a  foe  to  profit.  The  number  of 
vodka  shops  was  increased,  the  restrictions  were 
withdrawn,  and  thereafter  the  business  was  run  for 
revenue  only.  During  nineteen  years  of  nationaliza- 
tion the  revenue  from  the  sale  of  vodka  doubled,  but 
the  consumption  increased  threefold. 

Restriction  illogically  forced  vodka  shops  upon 
villages  that  had  heretofore  been  immune  from  its 
ravages;  and  the  inculcation  of  moderation  resulted 
in  such  inebriety  among  children  as  to  demand 
investigation  by  the  Moscow  City  Council.  In  a 
word,  Russia's  effort  for  the  moral  uplift  of  its  people 
through  the  government  control  of  drink  brought 
about  the  degradation  of  the  nation  until  its  drunken- 
ness resulted  in  ignominious  defeat  by  a  people  whom 
it  outnumbered  ten  to  one. 


d 
I 


RUSSIA'S  TEMPERANCE  EXPERIMENT    123 

From  the  mobilization  of  Russia's  troops  to  their 
defeat  at  Port  Arthur,  the  contrast  between  a  great 
army  drunk  and  a  small  army  sober  was  presented 
with  such  dramatic  force  that  the  Russo-Japanese 
war  might  have  been  enacted  as  a  movie  with  a  moral. 

The  Czar  visualized  the  lesson  and  added  to  the 
war  films  "the  mournful  pictures  of  popular  debility, 
household  distress,  and  neglected  business,  the 
inevitable  consequences  of  an  intemperate  life" 
revealed  in  a  journey  through  his  Empire  in  1913,  dur- 
ing which  convictions  were  formed  which  six  months 
later  resulted  in  the  famous  prohibition  ukase. 

In  a  letter  to  his  minister  of  finance,  the  Czar 
affirmed  that  the  journey  which  will  ever  be  memora- 
ble in  the  annals  of  Russia  was  "accomplished  with 
the  help  of  God  " — and  who  can  doubt  the  affirmation? 

The  beginning  of  the  war  found  Russia  with  a 
shortage  of  war  materials  and  without  the  industrial 
means  to  provide  them.  The  evils  of  vodka  had 
grown  to  such  proportions  that  in  one  year  infant 
mortality  had  mounted  to  four  and  a  half  million; 
the  ranks  of  her  workmen  were  depleted  by  one 
million  deaths  from  alcoholism  and  the  sequestra- 
tion of  eight  hundred  thousand  criminals  in  jails. 
The  shortage  of  munitions  and  the  lack  of  industrial 
material  could  not  be  remedied  at  once,  but  the  drain 
on  the  nation's  manhood  could  be  stopped  by  a  word. 

The  word  came  and  it  was  heard  throughout  the 
world — PROHIBITION  ! 

And  yet  but  a  day  before  you  would  have  been 
told  in  Russia,  as  we  are  now  told  in  the  United 


124  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

States,  that  prohibition  was  impracticable,  and 
chiefly  for  the  same  reasons:  the  necessity  of  the 
revenue  for  the  support  of  the  government,  the 
impossibility  of  enforcement,  and  the  inopportune 
time  to  burden  the  government  with  a  drastic  re- 
form. But  the  impossible  was  the  only  possible 
remedy. 

Under  instructions  from  the  Czar,  all  wine  shops, 
beer  saloons,  and  vodka  shops  were  closed  during 
the  mobilization  of  the  army.  Instead  of  going  off 
drunk,  as  they  did  during  the  war  with  Japan,  the 
soldiers  were  sober,  and  they  were  moved  with  a 
rapidity  that  thwarted  the  plans  of  the  enemy. 

While  beer  held  sway  in  Great  Britain,  retarding 
the  progress  of  its  troops  and  delaying  the  juncture 
with  the  French  army,  to  the  loss  of  Belgium  and 
the  peril  of  France,  prohibition  sent  the  Russian 
army  to  the  front  with  such  despatch  that  Germany 
was  forced  to  divide  her  forces  between  the  East 
and  the  West,  to  the  salvation  of  Paris  and,  it  may 
be,  of  London. 

Then  followed  the  Czar's  ukase  prohibiting  the 
sale  of  vodka  during  the  war.  At  almost  the  same 
time  the  Czar's  veto  was  given  to  local  authorities 
to  prohibit  the  sale  of  beer  and  wine.  This  is  done 
by  petition  of  the  people  in  a  prescribed  form,  and 
secures  the  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  beer,  wine,  and 
any  form  of  intoxicating  liquor  in  the  district  in 
question,  within  a  maximum  period  of  three  months. 
There  is  no  question  of  compensation,  only  the  re- 
fund of  a  proportionate  amount  of  the  licence  fee  in 


RUSSIA'S  TEMPERANCE  EXPERIMENT    125 

cases  where  the  order  of  prohibition  takes  effect  before 
the  expiration  of  a  retailer's  licence. 

With  surpassing  unanimity  the  country  districts, 
and  even  the  cities,  have  availed  themselves  of  this 
form  of  local  option.  Petrograd  and  Moscow  were 
among  the  first  cities  to  take  advantage  of  entire 
prohibition.  Thousands  of  communes  banished  all 
forms  of  drink,  and  great  stretches  of  the  country 
became  absolute  prohibition  territory.  Prohibition 
in  Russia  is  not  an  autocratic  decree,  as  some  would 
have  us  believe,  but  a  movement  of  the  people  as 
well.  The  appetite  for  drink  gave  place  to  a  desire 
for  sobriety;  and,  enacting  the  role  of  Oliver  Twist, 
the  Russian  people  petitioned  their  Czar  for  "more." 
They  wanted  perpetual  prohibiton.  The  "Little 
Father"  and  his  subjects  were  of  the  same  mind, 
for  he  quickly  responded  with  the  famous  telegram: 
"I  had  already  decided  to  prohibit  for  ever  in  Rus- 
sia the  government  sale  of  vodka." 


XIV 
Teetotal  Russia 

FROM  John  Foster  Fraser's  Russia  of  To-Day, 
I  quote  the  following: 

Russia  is  never  going  to  be  drunken  again.  Alco- 
holic beverages  have  been  prohibited,  and  the  Russians 
are  getting  used  to  teetotal  beverages.  They  are 
quite  pleased  with  themselves. 

All  stores  where  brandy,  whisky,  vodka,  champagne, 
wine,  beer,  or  liquors  were  sold  have  been  locked  and 
sealed  by  the  authorities.  The  liberty-loving  Briton, 
sitting  in  a  restaurant  and  fancying  something  more 
potent  than  mineral  water,  casts  his  eyes  upon  the 
glass  cases  behind  the  counter  where  are  marshalled 
rows  of  bottles  of  "the  real  stuff, "  but  locked  up  and 
forbidden.  He  revels  in  imagination  of  the  time  he 
will  have  when  he  returns  to  England. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  cold  weather  in  Russia,  and 
there  used  to  be  much  drunkenness.  Before  break- 
fast the  Russian  workman,  feeling  cold,  would  gulp 
down  a  bottle  of  fiery  vodka  which  cheered  him  and 
then  fuddled  him.  Indeed,  all  classes  might  be  de- 
scribed as  heavy  drinkers.  There  was  plenty  of  de- 
bauchery and  sometimes  there  were  horrible  tragedies. 

126 


TEETOTAL  RUSSIA  127 

But  generally  the  Russian  in  his  cups  was  not 
aggressive.  He  was  not  quarrelsome.  He  did  not 
want  to  fight  everybody.  His  mood  was  rather  to 
roll  around  and  slobberingly  kiss  all  whom  he  met — 
though  it  might  have  been  preferable  if  he  had  wanted 
to  fight. 

Anyway,  Nicholas  II.,  an  Imperial  Lloyd  George, 
but  with  the  power  to  do  what  he  wills,  conscious 
that  a  vodka-soaked  Russia  was  not  the  correct 
thing  while  the  greatest  war  was  being  waged, 
said  there  was  to  be  no  more  alcohol  sold.  And 
it  was  so.  Dealers  have  been  ruined.  But  Rus- 
sia is  not  a  land  in  which  to  babble  about  compen- 
sation. 

The  nation  was  declared,  by  Imperial  rescript 
and  by  the  order  of  the  authorities,  to  be  teetotal. 
Of  course,  there  was  a  good  deal  of  groaning  amongst 
the  120,000,000  white  Russians.  For  now,  if  any 
brandy  or  wine  is  needed  for  medical  purposes  it  has 
to  be  bought  at  an  apothecary's,  but  only  on  a  magis- 
terial permit,  and  the  magisterial  permit  is  granted 
only  on  a  medical  certificate. 

A  good  many  people,  used  all  their  life  to  a  little 
liquor  with  their  meals,  became  ill;  but  they  recov- 
ered. Those  with  the  hunger  of  drink  upon  them 
have  taken  to  drinking  methylated  spirits  and  other 
things  that  are  evil  for  the  inside.  Many  have  died 
from  excess  of  methylated  spirits.  The  majority  of 
folk  have  to  be  content  with  drinking  tea  and  the 
number  of  glasses  of  tea,  deliciously  refreshing,  the 
Russian  and  his  wife  can  consume  puts  into  dimmest 


128  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

shade  the  lady  who  "swelled  wisibly  "  in  Mr.  Dickens's 
novel. 

For  the  rest  the  table  beverage  is  kvass,  which 
can  be  made  out  of  soaked  black  bread,  or  white  bread, 
or  squeezed  cranberries,  or  indeed  anything — and  you 
can  drink  quantities  of  it  and  never  get  any  forrader. 
A  couple  of  centuries  ago  or  more,  Mr.  Giles  Fletcher, 
"a  quaint  author,"  wrote  about  "The  Russe  Common 
Wealth" — "the  poorer  sort  vse  water  and  thinne 
drink  called  Quasse,  which  is  nothing  els  but  water 
turned  out  of  his  wittes  with  a  little  branne  mashed 
with  it." 

Russians  never  were  alight-hearted  and  jolly  people. 
When  they  drank  alcohol  they  did  it  after  the  manner 
of  all  Northern  nations,  as  a  serious  business.  And 
drinking  a  lot  of  chorni  kvass,  the  swillings  of  soaked 
black  bread,  is  no  doubt  for  their  good.  But  it  does 
not  promote  sparkling  conversation.  My  purely  per- 
sonal experience  was  that  after  several  stout  doses 
of  kvass  with  my  lunch  and  dinner  I  began  to  feel  this 
was  a  sad  world,  and  that  I  had  better  get  myself  to 
a  monastery.  But  my  depression  somewhat  evapor- 
ated when  I  abjured  kvass,  and  went  the  racket  on 
orangeade. 

Night  life  in  the  cafe's  or  public  gardens  used  to  be 
a  thing  of  joy  in  Russia.  With  excellent  restaurants 
and  bands  and  wine  there  was  sparkle  about  mid- 
night. But  there  is  lowered  gaiety — not  all  due  to  the 
war — when  champagne  has  to  be  replaced  by  stuff 
which  is  like  ginger-pop  from  which  the  cork  escaped 
yesterday. 


; 


Philaret. 


128  RUSSIA  THEN  AND 


shade  the  lady  who  "swelled  wisibly  "  \. 
novel. 

For,J.he  rest,4&e  table  ^yer,a£e  -is  k\        .    _ 

Philaret  (Theodore,  Nikitich  Romanov),  Metro- 
can  be  made  our  of  soa&ea  DlacE  Dreaa.or  v.         ' ' 

polite  of  Moscow.  He  exerted  a  great  influence 
upon  the  domestic  affairs  of  Russia  during  the 
^  C$dri6<?f 6F&ifeble  (1605-1682).  Being  the  Most 
Holy  Patriarch,  Theodore  became  theoretically 
.a  co-regent  with  his  son,  Michael  who  then  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  As  an 

Author  he  compiled  catechism,  religious  books,  and 
Russians  never  were  a  light-}: 

whBWdrfismS% services  were: 

of  all  ^^M&^eaSants  to  stay  on  the  soil 

i^aM^«hWij3^ating   to   the   steppes, 
black  bread,,  is  no-idoubt  r         -      ,  .    '       . 

where  they  became  freebooters  instead 
not  promote,  sparkling  co1 
of  taxpayers. 

GriGDCCr  Vrois  SLOUL    C1OS6S 

t^rfe^a1^   more   equitable   (propo^is 
was  a  sad  w^&Pal^^^1!  had  better  get  myself  to 
a  monaJi£yfurnisfred   a   nucleus  for   the   Patri- 
archal Library   and  was  a  founder  of 
orangeadeTheological  Seminaries. 

With/  foreign   officers   he  helped   to   or- 
a  thing  of  gafliife  the  MuscWiifeeeAS^iy^t  rem- 
and bands  and  wine  there  was  sparkle  a" 
night.     But  there  is  lowered  gaiety — n 
war — when  champagne  has  to  be  r 
which  is  like  ginger-pop  from  wbJ 
yesterday. 


Philaret. 


Appendix 

EXTRACTS     FROM     LETTERS    OF    HON.     RUDOLPH 
BLANKENBURG 

Commissioner  to  Russia  to  distribute  the  cargo  of  S.  S. 
"Indiana,"  March,  1892. 

THE  first  impression  one  gets  of  Russia  is  that  of 
vastness.  The  country  at  the  frontier  reminds  one  of 
some  of  our  great  prairie  States,  slightly  rolling  and 
without  limit  or  boundary.  The  train,  drawn  by  an 
engine  larger  than  those  in  England  or  Germany  and 
fed  with  birch  or  pine  wood,  slowly  winds  its  way 
through  the  snow-clad  country,  past  human  abodes 
that  would  seem  strange  and  poor  even  to  the  earliest 
pioneers  of  our  Western  States.  Low  buildings,  with 
straw  roofs,  no  chimneys,  and  one  or  two  small  windows 
are  the  characteristics  of  these  villages  and  hamlets. 
Of  the  people  we  can  as  yet  see  and  judge  but  little. 
It  is  cold  and  disagreeable  and  only  those  who  are 
compelled  are  out  of  doors.  Those  we  do  see  are  hardly 
prepossessing.  They  are  clad  in  sheepskin  clothes,  the 
skin  inside,  something  like  a  fur  cap  on  their  heads, 
and  enormous  boots  or  footgear  that  is  entirely  un- 
known with  us.  The  men  mostly  wear  long  beards  and 
hair,  and  combs  seem  to  be  one  of  the  luxuries  that 
they  indulge  in  only  on  great  f£te  days.  Quite  a 

9  129 


I3o  APPENDIX 


number  of  women  act  as  guards  at  the  railroad  cross- 
ings. They  do  not  seem  to  be  as  warmly  dressed  as 
the  men,  and  are  probably  not  considered  of  as  high 
value.  This  is  unfortunately  the  case  even  in  the  more 
civilized  countries  of  Europe.  Our  American  women 
do  not  appreciate  what  a  blessing  they  enjoy,  and  how 
thankful  they  should  be  to  call  America  their  home. 
Miss  Anthony  and  Mrs.  Stanton  would  find  a  splendid 
field  for  their  labours  here ;  time  will  probably  produce 
their  prototypes  sooner  or  later  in  this  country. 

I  tried  to  study  the  faces  of  the  lower  classes  of  the 
people  as  we  met  them.  So  far  I  have  been  able  to 
discover  but  one  characteristic  that  seems  to  be  the 
property  of  all,  resignation  and  indifference.  Their 
aspirations  seem  to  be  satisfied  if  they  have  a  piece  of 
black  bread,  a  drink  of  home  whiskey,  and  a  corner  to 
sleep  in.  They  look  at  the  passing  train  in  quiet 
amazement,  hardly  turn  their  heads,  and  are  out  of  our 
sight  probably  as  quickly  as  we  are  out  of  their  minds. 
A  study  of  these  people  can,  of  course,  better  be  made 
in  the  interior  when  we  meet  them  face  to  face  and  visit 
them  in  their  homes — what  a  perversion  of  a  sacred 
name! 

The  aid  extended  from  private  sources  is  put  to  the 
very  best  uses.  What  would  become  of  these  people 
were  it  not  for  the  English  quakers,  who  are  doing 
admirable  work  and  who  have  already  expended  about 
$100,000,  the  private  committee  working  with  the 
British-American  Church.  Good  work  is  also  being 
done  by  the  Russian  committee,  of  which  the  Imperial 


c    g 

«  t 

2  5 

AH      g 

£ 


APPENDIX  131 


Crown  Prince  is  the  head.  They  have  collected  a 
large  amount  of  money  and  are  distributing  it  with 
much  wisdom.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
highest  classes  of  Russian  society  are  taking  up  this 
work  of  relief  with  great  enthusiasm.  The  nobility  is 
doing  admirably,  and  it  is  not  only  confined  to  the 
men  of  rank;  the  women  old  and  young,  married  and 
single,  are  vying  with  each  other  in  their  efforts  to 
help  their  stricken  country-people. 

Many  young  women  of  this  class  are  at  the  head  of 
the  soup  kitchens  in  the  interior.  They  are  labouring 
day  and  night,  not  as  ornamental  figureheads,  but 
they  lead  in  the  work  and  set  a  good  example  that  is 
thus  more  eagerly  followed  by  those  under  them.  The 
taste  of  practical  and  useful  employment  that  many 
of  these  people  of  high  rank  and  birth  perhaps  now  for 
the  first  time  enjoy  may  be  of  immense  value  to  them 
and  their  country  in  the  future.  Many  men  and 
women  do  not  know  what  they  are  capable  of  doing. 
If  they  once  start  in  the  right  direction  they  will 
follow  it,  and,  instead  of  leading  lives  of  uselessness 
and  indolence,  bound  only  to  seek  the  pleasure  of 
this  world,  they  may  learn  that  there  are  higher  aims 
in  life,  and  that  to  "love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself" 
gives  more  satisfaction  than  not  to  know  that  we  have 
any  neighbours  at  all. 

The  generous  spirit  which  prompted  our  people  to 
respond  so  liberally  to  the  appeal  of  the  Russian 
Famine  Relief  Committee  of  Philadelphia,  will  never 


I32  APPENDIX 


be  forgotten  by  that  distant  country.  In  proof  of  this, 
let  me  quote  from  a  letter  I  received  from  Count 
Woronzow  Daschkow,  Minister  of  the  Imperial 
Court,  who,  in  power  and  influence,  perhaps,  is  next 
to  the  Czar  of  Russia  himself: 

"It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  accept  the  photo- 
graphs of  the  departure  of  your  steamer  Indiana  from 
Philadelphia,  and  I  thank  you  most  heartily  for  them 
and  your  letter,  in  which  you  tell  me  of  the  kind 
interest  you  are  all  taking  in  us.  The  friendly  feel- 
ings of  sympathy  America  shows  us  now,  when  so 
many  of  our  people  are  in  want,  can  never  be  for- 
gotten by  me  or  my  countrymen,  and  that  you  will 
believe  this  is  the  sincere  wish  of,  dear  sir, 
"Yours  faithfully, 
"Or.  WORONZOW  DASCHKOW." 

Then  listen  to  the  simple  words  of  a  peasant,  a 
village  elder  in  the  Government  of  Samara,  a  man 
without  education,  but  with  a  warm  and  thankful 
heart.  As  we  left  his  village  on  a  cold,  wintry  morn- 
ing, he  stood  at  the  head  of  a  delegation  of  villagers, 
their  eyes  filled  with  tears  of  gratitude,  and  exclaimed 
with  trembling  voice,  "All  we  can  say  is,  'God  bless 
you  and  those  who  sent  you.'" 

Look  at  this  woman!  She  travels  on  foot,  through 
snow  and  slush,  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles  to  take  to 
the  dealers  a  package  of  braided  straw.  Hear  her 
story:  "I  work  from  four  in  the  morning  until  ten  at 


APPENDIX  133 


night — eighteen  hours  of  constant  labour.  During 
this  time  I  can  braid,  as  an  expert  braider,  twenty 
fathoms  of  straw,  or  140  feet.  The  price  paid  for  this 
quantity  is  nine  kopeks,  or  four  and  one  half  cents. 
Many  braiders  cannot  do  more  than  ten  or  fifteen 
fathoms  in  twenty-four  hours,  reducing  their  earn- 
ings to  two  or  three  cents  daily. "  There  she  marches, 
the  load  on  her  back,  calculating  probably  in  her  mind 
how  much  flour  she  can  buy  from  the  proceeds  of 
her  labour  for  the  children  at  home! 


Here  is  the  soup  kitchen;  will  you  please  descend? 
We  enter  an  old,  dilapidated  building.  It  consists 
of  three  divisions  (I  came  near  saying  rooms) ;  in  the 
first  one,  two  women  are  engaged  preparing  the  soup 
for  the  day;  in  the  other  two  were  assembled,  closely 
huddled  together,  some  200  of  the  most  wretched 
looking  beings  a  vivid  imagination  can  picture.  It 
would  require  the  pen  of  a  Dickens,  a  Dumas,  a  Hugo, 
to  do  justice  to  the  scene ;  even  they  would  fall  short  of 
presenting  the  life  we  saw.  There  was  the  woman  with 
wrinkled  face,  past  three  score  and  ten,  holding  in 
her  trembling  hand  the  stone  jug  for  her  share  of  the 
soup ;  alongside  of  her  a  little  girl  of  twelve,  with  sweet 
face,  paled  by  suffering  and  from  want  of  sufficient 
nourishment ;  close  by  her  the  mother,  holding  in  her 
arms  the  babe  of  a  few  months,  with  its  poor,  wan 
cheeks,  trying  to  keep  it  quiet;  the  child  is  evidently 
hungry.  There  is  the  man  of  stalwart  frame,  but 
shrunk  to  a  mere  skeleton.  There  are  the  boys  and 


134  APPENDIX 


girls  of  all  ages,  men,  women  and  children,  waiting  to 
be  fed,  their  faces  pinched  and  drawn,  clothed  in 
rags,  a  sight  to  bring  tears  to  the  eyes  of  the  most 
stalwart.  We  uncover  our  heads.  Who  can  remain 
otherwise  with  such  a  scene?  They  receive  us  with, 
"  Praised  be  the  Lord, "  and  fall  back  into  their  listless 
attitude. 

After  a  short  pause  the  distribution  commences;  the 
names  are  called  off  in  rotation ;  each  person  on  being 
called  presents  a  ticket  and  is  dished  out  perhaps  a 
pint  of  soup,  also  half  a  pound  of  bread.  "Thank 
you,"  "God  bless  you,"  "Praised  be  the  Lord," 
or  similar  expressions,  are  used  by  all  as  they  leave 
with  the  precious  morsel  in  their  hands. 

They  take  it  home,  and  many  make  two,  even 
three  pints  of  soup  out  of  the  one  received.  It  will 
last  longer  and  make  two  or  three  meals  instead  of  one. 
Could  you,  the  generous  donors  of  these  gifts,  have 
witnessed  these  scenes,  you  would  have  surely  felt 
that  you  never  gave  money  that  was  more  highly 
appreciated  and  did  more  good  to  its  recipients. 


The  First  of  the  Harvest. 

From  John  Foster  Fraser's  Russia  of  To-day. 


RESOURCES  OF  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE 

(By  permission  of  the  American  Geographic  Soci- 
ety, I  quote  the  following,  written  by  E.  K.  Rey- 
nolds.) 

One  of  the  far-reaching  results  of  the  war  in  this 
country  has  been  the  stimulation  of  an  interest  in 
Russia.  This  is  not  exactly  a  new  thing.  Americans 
have  for  a  long  time  been  interested  in  the  great  writ- 
ers, composers,  and  artists,  as  well  as  the  politics  of 
Russia.  There  was  a  time  even,  not  long  since,  when 
Americans  were  more  occupied  with  conditions  in  Rus- 
sian prisons  than  in  their  own.  But  all  that  has  little 
in  common  with  this  new  interest,  which  is  pointed 
toward  the  discovery  of  a  new  Russia,  hitherto  un- 
sought and  unknown — economic  Russia.  Politics 
and  fiction  are  brushed  aside,  and  Russia  is  being 
evaluated  in  terms  of  her  economic  possibilities. 
Americans  are  beginning  to  study  the  growth  of  the 
Russian  Empire  and  its  wealth  in  natural  resources. 

The  story  of  the  expansion  of  a  country  which  has 
resulted  in  the  largest  compact  political  organization 
the  world  has  ever  seen  is  necessarily  an  interesting  one. 
The  beginnings  of  Russian  history,  like  that  of  every 
country,  are  but  vaguely  known.  The  foundation 
stone  of  the  Russian  state  was  laid  in  Novgorod  in 

i35 


I36  APPENDIX 


862  A.  D.,  but  it  was  a  century  or  two  earlier  that 
a  group  of  Eastern  Slavs  came  down  from  the  Car- 
pathians and  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Dniepr. 
There  they  built  up  a  flourishing  trading  state,  with 
its  centre  at  Kiev.  The  Dniepr  became  the  great 
trade  route;  amber  from  the  Baltic  and  furs,  honey, 
and  wax  from  the  forests  along  its  banks  were  carried 
down  to  Constantinople,  while  gold,  silver,  stuffs,  wine, 
and  fruits  were  brought  up  the  river  in  return. 

In  those  days  of  prosperity,  the  Eastern  Slavs, 
later  known  as  Russians,  were  free  to  develop  their 
local  institutions,  and,  according  to  all  accounts, 
they  governed  themselves  in  an  extremely  democratic 
way.  They  had  their  princes,  but  these  constituted 
little  more  than  military  leaders  and  were  bound  in 
every  way  by  the  will  of  their  subjects  as  expressed 
through  their  common  council.  Then  came  the 
fateful  day  when  the  Russians  had  to  sacrifice  every- 
thing to  stem  the  rising  tide  of  Tatar  invasion.  They 
were  defeated,  but  their  dead  bodies  formed  a  rampart 
which  checked  the  yellow  hosts  and  saved  Europe 
and  Western  civilization  from  their  onslaught.  The 
price  that  Russia  had  to  pay  for  this  and  the  real 
significance  of  her  act  are  far  from  being  fully  appreci- 
ated by  her  western  neighbours.  Those  same  nations 
who  have  to  thank  her  for  almost  their  very  existence 
can  find  nothing  better  to  do,  now  that  she  is  emerging 
from  her  bitter,  century-long  struggle  to  take  her 
place  in  the  front  rank  of  the  peoples  of  the  world, 
than  to  make  faces  at  her  backwardness. 

To  us  Americans,  Russia  has  long  been  an  unknown 


APPENDIX  137 


quantity.  Distorted  expressions  of  her  spirit  have 
come  to  us  from  time  to  time,  but  oiithe  conformation 
and  content  of  her  land  we  have  known  little  and 
cared  less.  Of  this  one  seventh  of  the  world's  surface 
we  have  remained  in  almost  total  ignorance,  but  now, 
at  last,  we  are  trying  to  see  the  whole  figure  of  this 
youngest  child  of  Europe,  both  spirit  and  form,  and 
we  find  we  have  many  mutual  bonds.  We  both  know 
the  hunting  of  game  and  the  felling  of  trees  in  the 
forests  of  the  north;  we  both  feel  the  pulse  of  our 
national  life  as  the  wind  sweeps  over  the  grain  fields  or 
the  prairie  pastures;  we  both  have  our  high  mountains, 
deep  mines,  and  swift-flowing,  full-flooded  rivers. 
Outwardly  we  are  much  alike.  But  there  is  a  difference 
— a  very  great  difference.  Russia  is  a  country  of  age- 
long culture,  a  culture  which  she  has  preserved  at  the 
point  of  her  bared  sword,  in  the  presence  of  death. 
We  are  the  baby  of  golden-spoon  fame;  all  conditions 
have  combined  to  favour  the  prosperous  economic 
development  of  our  country.  In  struggling  to 
preserve  her  traditions,  she  has  been  unified,  and 
strengthened.  She  has  lived  continually  in  the 
presence  of  the  other  world.  History  has  made 
Russia  into  a  heart.  We  have  not  been  knit  together 
as  a  race  in  the  face  of  a  common  foe;  we  have  not  had 
to  suffer — history  is  making  of  us  a  brain.  Yet 
given  the  practically  identical  geographical  conditions 
under  which  to  live,  it  is  only  natural  that  we  should 
lean  towards  each  other  and  on  the  basis  of  what  we 
share  in  common  perhaps  pave  the  way  to  an  exchange 
of  those  things  which  we  need  from  each  other.  Russia's 


138  APPENDIX 


needs  are  easily  read:  she  is  an  all-on-land  empire,  and 
she  needs  railroads  and  more  railroads;  she  needs 
machinery;  she  needs  the  organization  and  push  in 
business  enterprises  for  which  we  have  become  famous. 
All  that  side  of  our  life  could  be  profitably  shared 
by  Russia;  and  for  us,  besides  the  material  gains  which 
needs  must  result  from  such  relations,  will  come  a 
knowledge  of  the  spirit  which  has  made  and  kept  her  a 
great  nation  and  which  promises  so  much  for  the  future. 
In  human  beings  the  balance  between  head  and  heart 
is  known  as  genius,  and  something  akin  to  genius 
might  surely  be  expected  from  such  a  bond. 


RUSSIAN    UNIVERSITIES 

The  New  York  Sun  years  ago,  reviewing  an  article 
in  the  Scottish  Review  on  Russian  universities,  presented 
facts  quite  surprising  to  those  who  have  made  them- 
selves acquainted  only  with  the  barbaric  side  of 
Russia.  The  Sun  said  that  the  information  comes 
from  a  contributor  who  has  attended  lectures  at  the 
University  of  Kiev.  The  Russian  Empire  contains 
eight  universities,  all  of  them  endowed  by  the  state, 
and  under  control  of  the  government,  through  the 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction.  These  eight  univer- 
sities, named  in  the  order  of  their  foundation,  are 
Moscow,  Kazan,  Charkov,  St.  Petersburg,  Kiev, 
Odessa,  Warsaw,  and  Temsk. 

The  faculties  of  their  universities  are  four,  viz., 
law,  medicine,  philosophy,  physics  and  mathematics. 
Language  and  literature  are  included  in  the  depart- 
ment of  philosophy. 

The  professoriat  of  languages  has  been  composed 
not  only  of  Russian  and  German  scholars,  but  also  of 
native  Orientals  of  high  literary  reputation. 

The  courses  of  instruction  correspond  with  those  of 
American  and  English  universities. 

More  students  flock  to  the  universities  than  can  be 
accommodated.  The  University  of  St.  Petersburg 
had  in  1891,  2087  students;  Mospow  in  1890  had 

i39 


I4o  APPENDIX 


3473;  Kiev  in  1889  had  3088.  A  large  proportion  of 
the  students  are  young  men  of  small  means,  and  in 
many  cases  students  are  crowded  together,  living  upon 
a  very  meagre  allowance  of  spending  money.  Students 
have  been  known  to  spend  only  five  cents  a  day  to 
buy  food.  The  Russian  Government,  however,  offers 
considerable  assistance  to  students,  and  a  very  large 
number  of  them  have  their  fees  remitted,  and  are 
otherwise  helped.  Notwithstanding  this  there  has 
always  been  more  or  less  conflict  between  the  students 
and  the  Russian  Government — many  of  the  most 
prominent  Nihilists  have  been  educated  at  the  univer- 
sities, and  many  serious  Nihilist  demonstrations  have 
taken  place  among  the  students. 

RUSSIAN  ORGANIZATION 

(R.  Martens  &  Company,  Inc.,  have  accorded  me 
permission  to  print  the  following  extract  from  their 
monthly  brochure  entitled  Russia.) 

Too  little  attention  seems  to  be  paid  to  Russia's 
power  of  organization,  in  the  copiously  printed  specu- 
lations of  bankers  and  business  men  regarding  the 
prospects  of  international  trade  after  the  war.  The 
whole  world  knows,  to  its  cost,  the  efficiency  of 
German  organization  in  war;  and  it  realizes  that  this 
war  efficiency  is  based  on  a  remarkable  organization 
of  trade,  industry,  and  finance  under  the  conditions  of 
peace;  that  in  fact  it  was  the  peace  organization  that 
made  it  possible  for  Germany  to  wage  war.  There  is 


APPENDIX  141 


no  small  amount  of  talk  as  to  what  France  and  Eng- 
land are  planning  to  do  after  the  war  by  way  of  restor- 
ing their  trade  and  industry,  and  contesting  with 
Germany  the  foreign  markets.  Little  is  said  of  Russia 
in  this  connection,  save,  in  a  general  way,  that  she 
has  immense  natural  wealth,  and  will  need  vast 
amounts  of  foreign  equipment.  The  narrowness  of 
this  common  view  seems  plainly  to  show  serious  lack 
of  appreciation  of  the  Russian  side. 

That  the  Russian  armies  have  "come  back"  has 
been  evident  and  the  subject  of  comment  the  world 
over,  since  the  heavy  fighting  on  the  eastern  front 
began.  Stop  to  think  what  this  means,  along  with 
the  facts  of  the  Russian  mobilization  at  the  outbreak 
of  war. 

Mobilization  of  the  Russian  armies  in  a  remarkably 
short  time  was  really  the  first  surprise  of  the  war. 
That  mobilization  showed  effective  planning  and 
carrying  out  of  an  exceedingly  complicated  task  of 
supply  and  transportation. 

This  year's  movements  of  the  rehabilitated  Russian 
armies  showed  capacity  for  performing  an  almost 
infinitely  greater  task  of  the  same  kind  as  was  involved 
in  the  first  mobilization.  It  is  needless  to  cite  in  detail 
all  that  is  covered  by  the  advance  and  supplying  of 
the  two  huge  Russian  armies  in  Europe  and  in  Asia 
Minor.  It  has  been  done,  and  with  brilliant  success. 

The  first  point  of  all  this  is  that  it  proves  the  exist- 
ence in  official  Russia  of  a  very  high  order  of  organiz- 
ing ability,  such  as  had  been  popularly  attributed 
almost  to  Germany  alone. 


i42  APPENDIX 


The  second  point  is  what  the  existence  and  exercise 
of  this  great  organizing  ability  is  going  to  mean  to 
Russian  trade  and  industry  after  the  war.  Here  it  is 
unfortunate  that  America  cannot  read  Russia  first- 
hand. Reports  of  Russian  eagerness  to  push  forward 
the  trade  and  industry  of  the  Empire  after  the  war  are 
brought  to  America  by  returning  visitors.  But  these 
reports  are  pale  and  vague  in  comparison  with  the 
picture  of  Russian  activity  that  one  gets  from  studying 
the  various  periodical  organs  of  Russian  industry  and 
commerce. 

Nothing  that  is  required  for  a  successful  forward 
march  is  overlooked,  either  by  the  government  or  by 
private  business  interests.  New  railroads  have  been 
laid  out  to  ensure  a  quick  mobilizing  of  the  grain  crops 
for  export.  New  and  more  adequate  lines  for  the 
distribution  of  fuel  are  under  way.  The  great  lumber 
industry  and  its  resources  are  being  made  ready. 
Vast  Siberia,  aided  by  Petrograd,  is  preparing  to  get 
a  larger  and  quicker  income  from  her  riches.  The 
Pacific  ports  are  being  enlarged.  The  natural  wealth 
of  the  Empire  is  being  made  more  available  for  use. 

Again,  Russia  is  Mobilizing ! 

RUSSIAN  PEASANT  GOODS  FOR  AMERICA 

Woodwork  and  Fine  Laces  on  Market — Aim  is  to  Help 
War  Cripples 

From  R.  Martens  Co.,  Russia. 

The  Russian  Ministry  of  Agriculture  has  opened  a 
number  of  avenues  in  American  commercial  circles 


Toys  made  by  the  Instruction  Toy  Shop  of  the  Provincial  Zemstvo  of  the 
Moscow  Government,  in  Sergiev  Posad  (Hamlet):  and  by  various 
Koustars  under  the  supervision  of  that  shop.  The  camel,  in  this 
group,  is  made  of  papier-mache',  from  the  design  of  the  artist- 
Oveshkov;  price,  45  roubles  (about  $23.00).  The  giraffe,  cow,  dog, 
duck,  cat,  turkey,  are  made  of  cardboard.  The  price  of  the  horse 
and  sleigh,  with  passengers,  Rs.  38  (about  $19.00). 


APPENDIX  143 


whereby  the  unique  handmade  articles  of  the  peasant, 
made  in  the  snowbound  izbas  during  the  long  Russian 
winter,  will  be  placed  within  reach  of  Americans.  The 
Imperial  Government's  purpose  in  this  is  partly  to 
extend  Russia's  trade,  but  mainly  to  furnish  a  means 
of  livelihood  for  the  tens  of  thousands  of  wounded 
and  crippled  men,  forced  to  return  to  their  peasant 
homes  as  a  result  of  the  great  war. 

The  true  peasant  handiwork,  hitherto  uncommercial- 
ized,  is  the  most  original  that  has  been  seen  in  modern 
times.  In  these  peasant  izbas  is  being  made  a  lace  not 
less  beautiful  in  design  and  fineness  than  the  famous 
laces  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Russia  is  a  land  of  linens, 
and  the  manner  of  their  preparation  and  careful 
weaving  by  hand  produces  textures  unlike  those  of 
any  other  country. 

The  government  has  been  careful  to  perpetuate  the 
original  ideas  of  each  of  these  Koustar  centres,  and 
every  region  in  Russia  is  marked  by  some  typical  and 
self-expressive  industry.  From  the  Caucasus  come 
rough  ornaments  and  exquisitely  chased  silver  works; 
from  the  north  comes  a  whole  industry  of  unique 
woodwork  made  in  the  richly  grained  Russian  birch ; 
from  Little  Russia  come  some  of  the  most  beautiful 
laces  and  linens. 

In  modern  trade,  where  almost  every  avenue  of 
production  has  been  commercialized  to  enable  the 
easy  supply  of  popular  demand,  this  opening  to 
America  of  the  hitherto  unknown  peasant  handiwork 
of  Russia  is  the  entrance  to  unsuspected  beauties  in  the 
common  things  of  life. 


i44  APPENDIX 


RUSSIA  AFTER  THE  WAR 

(From  John  Foster  Fraser's  Russia  of  To-Day  I 
quote  the  following.) 

A  belief  prevails  that  with  the  close  of  the  war, 
Russia  will  have  a  rebirth.  She  will  cast  off  her 
sluggishness.  She  will  bestir  herself  in  the  science  of 
industry  and  commerce,  and  not  rely  so  much  for  her 
necessaries  upon  the  foreigner.  The  war  has  taught 
Russia  that  there  is  danger  in  being  a  commercial 
colony  of  Germany,  and  the  temper  of  the  people 
is  "Never  again!"  .  .  . 

Enormous  advance  has  been  made  within  recent 
years  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  small  land- 
holder, more  proportionate  advance  than  in  any  other 
land,  though  the  great  improvement  is  not  recognized 
by  outsiders.  Frankly  no  government  has  done 
so  much  in  recent  times  to  give  the  peasantry  ac- 
cess to  the  land.  The  Duma,  though  without  much 
power  in  itself,  has  enormous  power  in  the  ventilation 
of  grievances,  and  here  again  public  opinion  shows 
itself.  In  London  there  is  a  Russia  Society,  the  chief 
function  of  which  is  to  provide  enlightenment  to  Eng- 
lish people  of  things  as  they  actually  are  in  Russia,  and 
to  Scotch  popular  errors.  In  Moscow  there  is  an 
English  Society,  and  its  aim  is  to  boom  English  institu- 
tions; so  there  are  not  a  few  men  in  Russia  who  believe 
that  under  the  guise  of  international  friendship  its 
real  aim  is  political  propaganda. 

Anyway,  I  am  right  in  saying  there  is  a  general 


APPENDIX  145 


conviction  that  with  the  settling  down  after  the  war 
there  must  be  immense  changes  in  the  method  of 
government.  I  have  run  across  strata  of  opinion. 
"  If  Russia  loses  there  will  be  revolution  and  a  repub- 
lic be  set  up, "  and  "If  Russia  wins  there  will  still  be  a 
revolution  if  the  old  state  of  affairs  be  reinforced. " 
Appreciating  the  volatile  nature  of  the  Slav,  I  venture 
to  say  there  will  be  no  such  unfortunate  consequence. 
Firstly,  Russia  is  not  going  to  lose.  Secondly,  Russia, 
like  the  rest  of  the  world,  will  adapt  herself,  not  franti- 
cally but  gradually  to  new  conditions.  The  close 
alliance  with  France  and  Britain  will  count  for  a 
great  deal.  Russians  are  not  braggarts.  They  know 
that  in  innumerable  respects  they  lag  far  behind 
other  countries.  They  are  their  own  most  severe 
critics.  They  feel  there  is  much  way  to  be  made  up, 
and  running  right  through  the  people  is  a  determina- 
tion to  seize  their  opportunities  and  advance  Russia  to 
the  place  she  ought  to  occupy  amongst  the  nations  of 
the  world. 

The  Russian  is  calm  over  the  war.  He  is  not  quite 
sure  what  it  is  all  about,  but  when  the  young  men 
are  told  to  go  and  fight  they  'go  by  the  million.  They 
are  brave;  but  the  German  guns  are  big  and  powerful. 

Yet  the  Russians  are  not  a  fighting  people.  They 
are  not  arrogant.  They  are  kindly.  Amongst  the 
educated  classes  there  would  be  much  more  interest 
in  a  new  opera  than  in  the  invention  of  a  gun  which 
will  throw  a  shell  forty  miles.  They  love  their  coun- 
try, but  without  chauvinism.  They  are  sure  of  the 
destiny  of  their  land — and  it  is  different  from  the 


i46  APPENDIX 


trade  thirst  that  animates  nations  which  consider 
themselves  more  enlightened. 

The  Russian,  cultured  and  travelled,  speaking 
several  languages,  does  not  bluff  himself  that  he  is  the 
equal  of  Britons,  or  Germans,  or  Americans,  in  the 
mechanical  arts.  No  people  I  know  are  so  childishly, 
lovingly  frank  in  the  recognition  of  their  own  short- 
comings. But  they  possess  something  which  they 
would  not  sacrifice  for  all  the  mechanical  skill  in  the 
world — a  soul,  imagination,  a  deep  love  of  beauty  in 
sound  and  the  written  word.  They  are  mystics ;  they 
are  dreamers.  That  is  the  Russian  temperament, 
provided  by  Providence. 

A  strange,  weird,  fascinating  land  of  extremes  is 
Russia.  The  Tartars  from  the  East  gave  it  a  system 
of  government;  the  Greeks  from  the  South  gave  it 
Christianity;  it  gathered  modernism  in  thought  from 
the  Germanic  races,  followed  by  a  flood  of  affection 
for  Latin  elegance,  and  then  back  it  went  to  Germanic 
influence  again.  The  nation  with  the  most  autocratic 
government  in  the  world  is  yet  the  most  democratic, 
not  as  an  outcome  of  politics  but  because  such  is  a 
Slav  condition  of  mind. 

The  American  workman  thinks  himself  as  good  as 
his  boss  and  he  isn't  taking  off  his  hat  to  "any  darned 
other  fellow. "  The  Russian  boss  never  thinks  himself 
any  better  than  his  employee,  and  he  always  takes  off 
his  hat  to  his  workmen.  The  talk  between  a  magnate 
and  a  moudjik  is  with  the  easy  familiarity  of  equals — 
not  due  to  these  democratic  times  when  rank  must  not 


Buffet  Made  by  the  Koustars  of  S6rgiev  Posad  (Hamlet),  in  the  Shop  there  of 
the  Provincial  Zemstvo  of  the  Government  of  Moscow.  Design  by 
the  Artist  Suv6rov. 


APPENDIX  147 


expect  subserviency  from  labour,  but  because  it  always 
has  been  so  amongst  Russians.  There  is  no  shyness 
about  poor  relations.  The  Russians  are  tremendously 
fond  of  family  gatherings  and  feasting,  and  there  you 
will  see  the  man  of  high  official  position,  in  his  uniform 
and  wearing  his  orders,  giving  the  kiss  of  greeting  to 
his  cousin  from  the  steppes,  who  has  long  hair  and  top 
boots  and  who  has  never  worn  a  white  linen  collar  in 
his  life. 

In  saying  the  Russians  are  children,  I  have  got  the 
right  description.  We  hear  stories  of  peculation,  of 
misappropriation  of  funds,  of  large  secret  commissions 
in  government  contracts,  and  for  all  I  know  to  the 
contrary  the  stories  may  be  perfectly  true.  But  I 
have  yet  to  visit  a  country  where  there  are  not  hund- 
reds of  flies  around  the  golden  honey  pot.  I  daresay 
there  are  just  as  many  "grafters"  and  "boodle" 
hunters  in  Russia  as  there  are  in  the  United  States. 
It  is  a  mighty  mistake,  however,  to  imagine  that 
every  official  in  Russia  has  his  price.  There  are 
gentlemen  in  Russia  just  as  honourable  as  there  are  in 
England,  and  the  generous  outpouring  of  our  own 
people  to  assist  those  who  have  been  stricken  by  the 
war  has  its  counterpart  all  over  Russia.  Heaven 
defend  us;  and  let  us  judge  a  country  by  its  virtues 
and  not  by  its  lapses,  for,  after  all,  it  is  the  good 
men  of  a  nation  who  mould  its  destiny,  and  not  the 
others. 


148  APPENDIX 


MISCOLOURED  RUSSIA  IS  A  DEMOCRACY 

(By  permission  of  the  Public  Ledger,  I  insert  the 
following.) 

(By  Vance  Thompson) 

I  have  no  intention  of  writing  an  article  on  Russia. 
That  were  absurd,  when  the  subject  howls  aloud  for 
folios.  But  there  are  one  or  two  misconceptions  I 
should  like  to  knock  on  the  head — mildly. 

Democratic  Tradition  and  Reality 

First  of  all,  Russia  is  not  a  military  nation.  Its 
government  is  not  militarist.  Its  civilization  is  not 
based  upon  a  military  conception  of  the  state.  It  is 
built  upon  an  exactly  different  basis — democracy.  I 
think  it  is  the  oldest  democracy  in  Europe ;  certainly  it 
possesses  the  oldest  tradition  of  democracy.  Russia 
is  not  that  girl  in  pink  satin  and  chains,  staggering 
through  a  paper  snow-storm;  Russia  is  the  peasant. 
Bear  in  mind  that  the  Russian  peasants  own  a  large 
part  of  the  arable  land — nearly  three  fifths  of  it.  To  a 
great  extent  the  land  is  held  in  common ;  that  is,  each 
little  community  of  farmers — each  mir — is  independ- 
ent. The  peasants  work  the  land  together  or,  more 
often,  divide  it  themselves,  according  to  laws  of  their 
own. 

I  remember  talking  with  an  old  peasant  once.  It 
was  at  that  famous  first  Duma.  He  was  a  calm  old 


APPENDIX  149 


man,  Khevilenko  of  Poltava.  He  took  my  hand  in 
both  his  big  paws  and  held  it  firmly  during  our 
entire  conversation — a  friendly,  reasonable  old  man 
And  when  I  asked  him  what  he  wanted  he  said:  "I 
want  the  land  for  my  people — I've  been  sent  here  to 
get  it,  and  I  sha'n't  go  back  until  I  do. "  I  found  out 
his  trouble.  It  was  simple.  Every  man,  woman, 
child,  and  babe  in  his  commune  had  ten  acres  of  land; 
but  near  by  lay  a  well-watered  meadow,  which  at  the 
time  the  landowners  were  dispossessed  had  been  left  in 
possession  of  the  owner.  Khevilenko's  village  wanted 
it ;  and  I  am  tolerably  sure  they  got  it.  For  that  year 
over  a  quarter  of  the  land  remaining  in  the  hands  of 
the  "nobles"  was  turned  over  to  the  peasants.  To- 
day a  peasant  can  own  his  land  individually  or  leave  it 
in  the  self-governing  community,  as  he  pleases. 

The  village  commune  has  home  rule.  A  group  of 
these  communes  forms  a  canton,  as  in  Switzerland.  It 
also  is  self-governing.  It  has  an  assembly  made 
up  of  one  man,  chosen  by  the  peasants,  out  of  every 
ten  families.  In  the  cantonal  court  the  peasant  first 
comes  into  touch  with  the  law  of  the  land — and  in 
that  court  sit  five  peasant  judges  selected  by  the 
peasants  themselves.  Above  that  is  the  district 
assembly,  which  is  another  elective  body.  Bluntly 
stated  this  is  democracy  of  no  bad  sort. 

No  Aristocracy  in  Russia 

"But  the  aristocracy,"  said  the  big  doctor, whom 
you  met  in  the  beginning  of  this  article,  "that  ruthless 
Russian  aristocracy!" 


150  APPENDIX 


I  smiled,  and  blandly,  patiently,  as  one  instructs  a 
child  in  the  rule  of  three,  I  said:  "In  Russia  there  is 
no  aristocracy." 

' '  No  aristocracy ! ' ' 

"No  aristocracy,"  I  repeated,  "except,  of  course, 
just  such  an  aristocracy  as  we  have  in  dear  old 
Virginia  and  Massachusetts  and  New  Rochelle — an 
aristocracy  which  is  made  up  of  certain  old  and 
illustrious  families  who  trace  their  blue  blood  back 
through  the  generations.  To  be  a  Dolgoruki  or 
Troubetskoy  adds  just  the  same  lustre  it  gives  a 
Yankee  to  be  an  Adams  or  an  Endicott:  but  it  lends 
neither  place  nor  power.  It's  a  mere  thing  of  family 
pride." 

And  that  is  true ;  in  Russia  there  is  royal  blood  with 
its  privileges ;  but  there  is  no  aristocracy.  There  is,  of 
course,  a  nobility.  But  that  is  an  admirable  thing 
and  essentially  democratic,  because  it  is  open  to  every 
Russian. 

The  son  of  the  peasant  or  the  son  of  the  merchant — 
or  any  man's  son — can  be  a  noble  if  he  will.  He  has 
but  to  go  through  the  schools,  pass  the  civil  service 
examination,  and  then — at  a  given  point  in  his  career — 
he  is  automatically  ennobled.  The  rank  goes  with 
the  grade  he  has  won  in  the  civil  service.  So  there 
is  a  perpetual  flow  of  plain  folk  up  into  the  class  of  the 
nobility;  and  a  return  current,  of  course,  gradually 
carries  the  descendants  of  the  unfit  back  into  the 
people.  It  is  a  life-giving  circulation ;  and  it  is  demo- 
cratic. It  is  democracy  in  essence — reward  and  dis- 
tinction for  services  to  the  state. 


APPENDIX  151 


The  Government  to  Be 

Now  and  then  this  huge  iron  framework  of  govern- 
ment sags  at  one  corner  and  pinches  one  race — some- 
where on  the  3Oth  degree  of  latitude.  It  does  not 
always  fit.  Perhaps  no  government  does ;  but  of  one 
thing  you  may  be  sure,  when  it  sags  too  much  it  will 
break  apart.  Every  nation,  as  it  mounts  the  long, 
steep  road  of  evolution,  has  to  fit  itself  every  now  and 
then  with  a  new  garment  of  government.  And 
Russia,  based  on  democracy, — with  age-old  habits  of 
democracy, — will  establish  a  government  in  accord 
with  its  new  needs  and  ideals. 

For  Russia  has  ideals. 

You  may  not  believe  either  in  compulsory-education 
or  in  compulsory  sobriety,  but  Russia  believes  in  both. 
The  new  law  which  has  banished  strong  drink  from 
Russia — from  its  eighty  nations — is  an  epoch-making 
event.  It  is  the  second  step  in  a  long-planned  reform 
that  I  have  watched  for  years.  The  first  thing  the 
government  did  was  to  introduce  the  so-called 
Swedish  system  of  handling  the  liquor  question.  It 
closed  all  the  taverns  and  groggeries — sinks  of  corrup- 
tion— and  took  charge  of  the  traffic  itself.  Where  the 
village  groggery  had  been  it  set  up  a  shop  of  its  own, 
where  vodka  could  be  bought  in  the  original  package 
— and  that  way  only.  It  could  not  be  drunk  on  the 
premises.  There  was,  however,  a  room  where  the 
villagers  could  gather  and  drink  tea.  Hot  water 
was  provided  free,  and  there  were  warmth  and  light 
and  cheer.  All  this  made  for  sobriety,  but  the  chief 


152  APPENDIX 


benefit  was  the  fact  that  the  peasants  could  not 
drink  on  "tick" — pawn  their  ponies  and  ploughs  and 
clothes  and  mortgage  their  future  crops  to  the  dirty 
traffickers  in  vodka.  That  was  a  great  reform.  Then 
when  the  hour  struck  the  Duma  passed  that  new  law 
which — just  the  other  day — prohibited  the  sale  of 
alcoholic  liquors  over  the  mighty  land  of  Russia. 

You  may  not  like  that  sort  of  thing;  you  may  not 
like  democracy;  but  you  cannot  know  Russia  unless 
you  know  that  these  are  the  foundations  on  which 
she  is  building  her  future. 

National  Corner-stones 

Compulsory  education,  compulsory  sobriety,  and 
democracy — these  three. 

There's  one  other  corner-stone  of  the  new  Russian 
edifice.  I  don't  know  that  it  has  any  place  in  a  news- 
paper article,  though  it  is  the  sort  of  thing  that  is  sup- 
posed to  be  quite  innocuous — even  for  children.  It  is 
this:  Russia  is  a  religious  country — it  is  more  than 
religious ;  it  is  a  God-haunted  country.  He  who  would 
sketch  the  future  of  Russia  must  reckon  with  that 
enormous  fact.  And  so  you  may  see  the  Russians  as  a 
grave,  wise  folk,  notably  given  to  song  and  prayer; 
friendly,  with  rare  humanity  and  a  sense  of  world 
brotherhood  quite  inconceivable  in  a  Europe  of  clash- 
ing trade  competitions  and  craving  military  ambi- 
tions— a  kindly,  mystic  land. 

You  can't  judge  Russia  by  the  cheap  and  tawdry 
melodramas  of  other  days;  nor  by  the  ranting  of  the 


APPENDIX  153 


"intellectuals, "  who  are  mostly  declassed  proletarians 
educated  above  their  brain  power,  and  wandering 
without  place  or  work,  in  a  world  they  do  not  under- 
stand. Some  of  them  are  dreamers  and  martyrs — 
without  hungry  personal  ambitions;  and  they,  like  the 
peasant,  are  making  the  future  of  their  amazing  land. 

RUSSIA'S  FUTURE  NEEDS  FOR  CAPITAL 

(By  Samuel  McRoberts 
Vice  President,  National  City  Bank,  New  York  City) 

No  individual  or  collection  of  individuals  can 
undergo  a  great  test  of  strength  and  come  out  of  it  the 
same  as  before  the  ordeal.  If  the  draft  upon  the  vi- 
tality is  too  great,  the  result  is  a  lower  order  of  life, 
or  even  death.  On  the  other  hand,  if  there  is  sufficient 
strength  to  successfully  meet  the  crisis,  the  contest 
brings  added  physical  ability  and  a  quickened  spirit. 
The  great  war  in  Europe  has  set  all  minds  to  consider- 
ing the  effect  upon  civilization,  and  the  utility,  if 
there  is  any,  of  war  in  the  abstract.  Whether  it  is  an 
unmitigated  evil,  to  be  borne  as  one  of  the  defects  in 
human  affairs,  or  an  evil  that  must  be  endured  that 
good  may  result,  is  a  question  that  will  continue  to  be 
debated.  When  we  see  the  high  civilization  of  Eng- 
land being  cut  down  from  the  top,  or  Germany's 
peaceful  conquest  of  the  world  abandoned  for  a  mili- 
tary conquest,  war  takes  on  the  aspect  of  disease 
and  a  menace  to  the  constructive  forces  of  civilization. 
When  we  turn  to  the  case  of  Russia,  the  matter  is  not 


154  APPENDIX 


so  clear.  Dean  Swift  once  said,  in  reference  to  his 
critics,  that  unless  the  asses  ate  off  the  ground  leaves  of 
certain  plants,  they  would  never  grow  tall,  and  cer- 
tainly Russia  has  had  a  tendency  to  sprawl.  Occupy- 
ing one  seventh  of  the  land  of  the  globe,  she  includes  a 
wide  diversity  of  people,  and  is  not  entirely  a  homo- 
geneous nation.  National  spirit  has  been  lacking,  her 
circulation  has  been  slow.  Individualism  and  personal 
initiative  in  the  great  mass  of  her  population  have  been 
at  a  low  ebb.  It  is  idle  to  attribute  this  condition  to 
the  character  of  its  government,  for  no  government 
has  failed  to  reflect  the  status  of  its  people  for  any 
great  length  of  time.  This  internal  condition  of 
Russia  has  been  improving,  very  rapidly  so  during 
the  last  ten  years,  but  the  effects  already  observable 
seem  to  indicate  that  the  war  is  going  to  accomplish 
for  Russia  within  the  few  years  of  its  duration  what 
would  have  ordinarily  required  many  years.  Already 
the  greatest  social  evil  in  Russia,  drunkenness,  has 
disappeared,  with  startling  effect  upon  the  economic 
and  moral  status  of  the  people.  The  Russians  are 
united  in  this  titanic  struggle,  and  a  genuine  national 
spirit  is  in  evidence.  Old  customs  are  being  broken 
up,  and  a  new  experience  brought  to  every  individual 
in  the  Empire.  No  final  judgment  can  be  formed 
at  this  time,  but  it  would  appear  that  the  quickening 
of  the  spirit  of  Russia  may  eventually  be  considered 
worth  its  terrible  cost. 


APPENDIX  155 


Russia's  Problem  in  Financing  the  War 

In  1914,  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  Russia 
had  a  rapidly  increasing  foreign  trade,  which  produced 
a  credit  balance  for  meeting  the  service  of  her  foreign 
loans.  Her  public  debt  was  decreasing,  and  was 
largely  offset  by  revenue-producing  property  owned 
by  the  state.  Direct  taxation  throughout  the  Empire 
was  declining  year  by  year.  The  financial  position 
was  sound.  The  government  debt,  considered  on  a 
per  capita  basis,  was  the  lowest  of  any  European 
country,  and  if  considered  in  relation  to  its  natural 
resources,  presented  an  even  more  favourable  compar- 
ison. This  advantageous  financial  position  and  the 
latent  wealth  of  her  resources  did  not  save  Russia, 
however,  from  the  severest  possible  difficulties  in 
financing  the  war.  Internal  loans  were  promptly 
forthcoming  for  internal  needs,  which  were  the  greater 
part  of  the  demands  of  the  war,  but  her  ports  were 
closed  and  commercial  intercourse  with  the  world 
practically  cut  off.  Not  being  able  to  export  goods, 
and  not  owning  foreign  securities,  Russia  found  herself 
practically  without  foreign  resources.  The  unprece- 
dented character  of  the  war  imperatively  demanded 
huge  expenditures  of  materials,  which  her  own  manu- 
facturers were  unable  to  supply,  even  if  the  raw  pro- 
ducts could  be  obtained  within  her  own  borders. 
The  enormous  depreciation  of  the  rouble  exchange, 
inevitable  under  these  circumstances,  intensified  the 
difficulties  in  many  ways.  The  situation  could  be  met 
only  by  foreign  loans.  Russia  and  the  basis  of  her 


I56  APPENDIX 


credit  were  little  known  or  understood  in  the  United 
States,  and  therefore  her  requirements  have  been 
financed  by  England  as  a  war  measure, excepting  negli- 
gible amounts  furnished  by  this  country  and  Japan. 
It  thus  turned  out  that  the  one  country  in  Europe  best 
able  to  stand  the  strain  of  a  great  war,  both  as  regards 
men  and  natural  resources,  was  for  its  immediate  needs 
in  the  weakest  financial  position.  This  has  all  made 
a  deep  impression  in  Russia.  What  individual 
economists  and  thoughtful  business  men  have  been 
thinking  and  saying  has  suddenly  become  the  con- 
viction of  the  entire  country.  The  people  are  united 
in  the  purpose  to  develop,  completely  and  as  rapidly 
as  possible,  the  natural  resources  of  their  country. 

The  public  debt  has  increased  from  $4,500,000,000 
in  1914  to  about  $12,000,000,000  at  the  present  time, 
and  the  annual  debt  charge  from  $218,000,000  to 
about  $600,000,000.  These  figures  will  continue  to 
increase  until  the  end  of  the  war.  Russia  faces  the 
necessity  of  raising  immensely  greater  revenues  than 
she  had  ever  contemplated  as  necessary.  To  do  this 
the  wealth  of  the  nation  must  be  rapidly  increased,  and 
the  ability  of  the  individual  to  pay  taxes  greatly 
augmented. 

These  three  factors  in  the  Russian  situation — the 
quickening  of  the  Russian  spirit,  the  realization  of  the 
economic  follies  of  the  past  and  the  importance  of 
commercial  and  financial  independence,  and  the  spur 
of  necessity — are  combining  to  bring  about  a  great 
program  of  development  throughout  the  Empire. 
It  is  everywhere  being  discussed  and  advocated  where 


APPENDIX  157 


thoughtful  Russians  congregate.  It  is  presented  in  the 
reports  of  the  ministers,  made  the  topic  of  speeches  in 
the  Council  of  the  Empire  and  the  Duma,  and  is  a 
recurring  subject  in  the  daily  press.  The  government 
has  announced  that  it  receives  almost  daily  from  all 
parts  of  Russia,  from  members  of  the  legislature,  from 
noblemen,  priests,  peasants,  civil  service  employees, 
officers,  merchants,  physicians,  lawyers,  workers,  etc., 
suggestions  as  to  how  Russia  should  solve  her  financial 
problems  after  the  war  and  that  all  these  suggestions 
breathe  lofty  patriotism  and  faith  in  the  strength  and 
splendid  future  of  the  country.  Plainly  the  signifi- 
cance of  industrial  development  for  the  future  of  the 
country  is  felt  and  appreciated  everywhere  through- 
out Russia. 

The  Extent  and  Importance  of  Her  Natural  Resources 

The  basis,  in  the  way  of  natural  resources,  for 
Russia's  economic  development  is  very  broad.  The 
population  is  officially  stated  to  be  174,000,000,  the 
largest  of  any  country,  except  China  and  India,  with 
a  normal  increase  of  about  3,000,000  per  year.  The 
land  area  is  four  times  the  area  of  Europe  and  about 
three  times  the  area  of  the  United  States  and  includes 
every  variety  of  territory,  from  the  highest  mountain 
ranges  to  the  most  fertile  of  alluvial  plains.  The 
climate  ranges  from  arctic  to  the  semi-tropical  of 
Turkestan,  Trans-Caucasia,  and  the  Crimea.  The 
country  can  produce  within  its  own  area  all  the  essen- 
tials to  modern  civilization.  For  agriculture,  it  has 


158  APPENDIX 


the  most  extensive  acreage  of  first-class  farm  land 
anywhere  found  on  the  globe.  It  has  about  fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  timber  north  of  the  equator.  It  has  large 
known  deposits  of  iron,  manganese,  coal,  oil,  copper, 
platinum,  gold,  and  silver;  while  minerals  of  lesser 
importance,  such  as  asbestos,  graphite,  lead,  mercury, 
salt,  tin,  and  zinc,  are  being  produced.  Eighty-five 
per  cent,  of  the  population  live  in  the  country.  The 
remaining  fifteen  per  cent,  make  up  the  population  of 
the  cities,  of  which  there  are  over  two  hundred  in  the 
Empire.  Sixty-five  of  these  cities  have  a  population 
of  over  fifty  thousand,  and  twenty-four  a  population 
in  excess  of  one  hundred  thousand.  One  hundred 
and  fifty-three  million  of  the  174,000,000  inhabitants 
live  in  Russia  in  Europe,  which  in  area  is  only  one 
sixth  of  the  Empire.  Twenty-one  million  occupy 
Siberia  and  Central  Asia.  Siberia,  more  than  one 
half  of  the  Empire,  has  only  ten  million  people. 

In  many  ways  Russia,  today,  presents  an  enlarged 
picture  of  the  United  States  at  the  close  of  the  Civil 
War,  with  its  population  then  occupying  the  territory 
east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  with  a  great  unoccu- 
pied and  undeveloped  public  domain  lying  beyond. 
Just  as  the  United  States  then  turned  to  the  develop- 
ment of  its  public  lands  and  mineral  deposits  in  the 
West,  and  to  the  organization  of  industries  in  the 
East,  Russia  is  now  taking  stock  of  her  great  timber 
resources,  her  fertile  unoccupied  lands,  the  hidden 
treasures  of  her  mountain  ranges,  and  turning  her 
attention  to  the  organization  of  industries  in  her  more 
thickly  populated  sections,  for  only  in  this  way  can 


APPENDIX  159 


she  produce  the  greatly  increased  wealth  which  will  be 
necessary  to  enable  her  to  meet  her  war  obligations 
and  give  her  an  increasingly  greater  position  in  world 
affairs.  The  increase  of  grain  production  by  the  open- 
ing up  of  new  farms  and  more  intensive  cultivation 
will  require  capital,  but  not  more  than  the  surplus 
wealth  of  the  present  agriculture  will  supply.  The 
basis  for  this  extension  is  made  apparent  by  the  fact 
that  in  1913  Russia  planted  to  cereals  alone  over 
215,000,000  acres.  Of  this,  82,600,000  acres  were 
planted  in  wheat,  yielding  i  ,024,000,000  bushels.  The 
average  yield  for  winter  wheat  was  15%  bushels  per 
acre,  and  for  spring  wheat  u>£  bushels  per  acre. 
This  was  a  good  year  in  Russia,  and  might  be  com- 
pared with  the  same  year  in  the  United  States,  when 
there  were  planted  49,601,000  acres,  producing  15.2 
bushels  per  acre,  or  a  total  of  753,000,000  bushels. 

These  figures  demonstrate  that  there  are  ample 
financial  resources  for  the  extension  of  Russia's 
agriculture,  such  as  the  opening  up  of  new  territory, 
the  improving  of  live-stock,  the  planting  of  orchards, 
the  developing  of  fertilizers,  and  all  those  things  di- 
rectly incidental  to  a  larger  acreage  and  more  scientific 
cultivation;  but  there  are  incidental  tasks  which 
will  require  large  units  of  capital  that  cannot  be  taken 
directly  from  the  agricultural  community.  The 
country  has  insufficient  facilities  for  the  economical 
transportation  and  storage  of  grain;  and  up  to  the 
present  time  the  losses  from  this  source  have  been  on  a 
tremendous  scale.  However,  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  the  government  had  under  way  a  construction 


160  APPENDIX 


program  for  eighty-one  elevators,  of  a  capacity  of 
34,860,000  bushels;  and  an  additional  program  of 
seventy-seven  elevators,  with  a  capacity  of  37,650,000 
bushels,  has  been  agreed  upon  and  authorized.  But 
even  as  now  planned,  the  elevator  system  is  by  no 
means  adequate,  and  the  whole  system  of  grain  han- 
dling and  transportation  will  need  radical  reformation. 

Cotton,  Fruits,  and  Meat  Products 

Russia  today  is  producing  in  Central  Asia  more 
than  two  thirds  of  the  cotton  required  by  Russian 
spindles.  To  grow  her  total  requirement,  and  develop 
an  export  industry,  necessitates  the  extension  of  the 
irrigated  territory  in  Turkestan.  The  climate,  soil, 
and  water  are  there,  and  even  the  engineering  has 
been  done  to  a  large  extent,  so  that  all  that  will  be 
required  to  make  Russia  independent  of  foreign 
production  will  be  capital  for  the  extension  of  an 
existing  and  successful  industry.  Even  when  this 
is  accomplished,  the  need  for  capital  will  be  only  in- 
creased, as  Russia  will  occupy  a  geographically  favour- 
able position  for  supplying  the  great  cotton  textile 
demands  of  Central  Asia;  and  if  sufficient  cotton  can 
be  produced,  there  is  no  economic  reason  why  her 
textile  industry  should  not  be  correspondingly  ex- 
tended. This  reasoning  applies  also  to  the  other 
textiles.  Today  large  quantities  of  flax  and  wool  are 
exported  in  the  raw  state.  To  convert  the  export  of 
these  raw  materials  into  manufactured  products  will 
eventually  call  for  large  expenditures. 


APPENDIX  161 


The  Crimea,  the  Caucasus,  and  Turkestan  are  in 
every  way  adapted  for  the  growing  of  all  kinds  of 
fruits,  but  the  fruit  industry  cannot  be  extended  and 
the  products  marketed  without  the  establishment  of 
refrigeration  service,  which  is  today  practically 
non-existent  in  Russia.  This  would  also  apply  to  the 
dairy  and  poultry  industries  of  Siberia.  The  raising 
of  food  animals  is  an  important  activity  throughout 
the  Empire;  and  Russia  has  more  sheep  and  goats 
than  the  United  States,  nearly  as  many  cattle,  and 
about  one  fourth  as  many  hogs.  Recently  much 
attention  is  being  given  to  scientific  breeding,  and  some 
progress  has  been  made  in  feeding  for  food  results,  but 
there  is  no  organization  of  the  industry  beyond  the 
farms.  Australia  can  put  mutton  on  the  market  in 
Russia  cheaper  than  the  home-grown  product  can  be 
obtained,  because  in  Russia  all  animals  are  sent  as 
live  freight  to  the  point  of  slaughter;  the  economies 
from  centralized  slaughtering  plants  and  the  handling 
of  the  dressed  product  under  cold  storage  having 
not  been  yet  introduced. 

Opportunities  in  Lumbering  and  Mining 

Russia  is  practically  the  only  country  in  Europe 
having  an  excess  of  timber  over  and  above  its  own 
requirements.  While  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Austria- 
Hungary  still  have  a  surplus,  of  recent  years  it  has 
become  so  small  as  to  be  almost  negligible.  Russia 
is  the  great  timber  reserve  of  Europe,  and  while  in 
1913  she  exported  timber  to  the  amount  of  $84,000,000 
she  still  has  not  begun  to  realize  upon  the  possibilities 


162  APPENDIX 


in  her  timber  trade.  The  Englishman's  definition 
to  the  effect  that  timber  was  "an  excrescence  growing 
upon  the  earth,  chiefly  useful  for  paying  off  the  debts 
of  one's  ancestors,"  will  be  particularly  applicable 
to  the  Russian  forests.  The  demand  for  timber  in 
Europe  following  the  war  must  necessarily  be  greatly 
in  excess  of  normal.  It  is  stated  that  after  the  earth- 
quake in  Messina,  in  1913,  Italy's  timber  import 
increased  22  per  cent,  over  the  average  for  the  previous 
five  years.  If  this  is  any  indication,  Russia  will  have 
a  wonderful  opportunity  to  realize  the  latent  wealth 
of  its  forests.  This  will  mean  an  enormous  outlay 
of  capital  for  the  building  of  railroads,  port  facilities, 
steamships,  sawmills,  pulp  mills,  and  all  of  those  things 
incidental  to  the  manufacture  and  transportation  of 
timber  products. 

Russia  has  already  taken  steps  to  attract  foreign 
capital  to  the  mining  industry,  by  reforming  its  taxa- 
tion laws  and  granting  more  liberal  concessions,  and 
by  facilitating,  as  well  as  granting  government  aid  to, 
the  importation  of  improved  mining  machinery.  She 
will  necessarily  continue  to  stimulate  in  every  way 
the  production  of  gold  and  the  other  precious  metals. 
Her  known  copper  deposits  make  her  practically 
independent  of  international  production,  and  the  best 
authorities  agree  that  her  mineral  fields  have  not 
begun  to  be  exploited. 

The  Need  for  More  Railways 

One  of  the  chief  essentials  underlying  the  whole 
problem  of  economic  progress  and  realization  of  na- 


APPENDIX  163 


tional  energy  and  labour  is  the  expansion  of  the  rail- 
way net  of  Russia.  An  adequate  railway  system  is 
absolutely  indispensable  for  bringing  out  the  natural 
resources  of  any  country,  and  the  extension  of  the 
railway  system  of  Russia  cannot  be  economically 
accomplished  without  a  full  development  of  her  metal- 
lurgic  industries.  Even  before  the  war  there  was  a 
growing  feeling  in  Russia  that  her  railway  system 
was  not  commensurate  to  the  economic  needs  of  the 
country;  and  since  that  time  this  has  become  too 
self-evident  to  be  questioned.  The  total  railroad 
mileage  in  Russia  is  47,000  miles.  An  idea  of  what 
this  means,  in  the  way  of  unserved  territory,  can  be 
obtained  by  comparing  it  to  the  railway  mileage  of  the 
United  States,  which  country,  while  only  one  third  as 
large,  has  260,000  miles  of  road.  This  means  that 
Russia,  on  the  basis  of  square  miles,  has  only  5  per 
cent.,  and  on  the  basis  of  population,  only  10 percent., 
of  the  railway  mileage  of  the  United  States.  This 
has  been  fully  discussed,  and  its  importance  under- 
stood, in  Russia ;  and  it  seems  to  be  considered  as  the 
initial  problem  to  confront  the  country  at  the  close  of 
the  war.  The  government  commission  has  already 
examined  and  sanctioned  the  building  of  a  total  of 
16,776  versts,  at  an  estimated  cost  of  1,466,000,000 
roubles,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  year  this 
program  was  further  enlarged  by  the  sanctioning  of  an 
additional  3000  versts,  at  a  cost  of  266,000,000  roubles. 
So  the  country  is  already  officially  pledged  to  the  con- 
struction of  about  20,000  versts,  or  13,333  miles,  while 
projects  are  under  consideration  for  official  action  that 


164  APPENDIX 


will  bring  this  up  to  about  17,000  miles,  at  an  esti- 
mated cost  of  over  a  billion  dollars. 

It  is  the  declared  purpose  of  the  government,  pro- 
vided capital  can  be  obtained  from  the  international 
money  markets,  to  enter  upon  a  policy  of  construction 
that  would  produce  approximately  5000  miles  per 
year.  It  is  highly  improbable  that  any  such  exten- 
sive program  can  be  carried  out,  with  the  result  that 
only  those  projects  presenting  the  most  attractive 
opportunities  to  capital  will  be  taken  up.  What  this 
means  to  the  steel  industry  in  Russia  is  apparent 
when  we  consider  that  each  mile  of  road  requires 
approximately  two  hundred  tons  of  metal.  Further- 
more, the  existing  railroads,  while  well  constructed, 
are  designed  to  bear  only  a  light  unit  of  transportation. 
With  long  hauls  and  heavy  traffic,  Russia  is  being 
forced  to  the  large  unit  of  transportation  adopted  in 
this  country,  which  will  require  re-laying  the  existing 
roads  with  heavier  rails  and  the  strengthening  of  all 
right-of-way  structures.  It  will  be  prohibitively  ex- 
pensive for  Russia  to  import  railway  metal,  owing  to 
the  high  cost  of  transportation,  therefore  the  pace  of 
her  railway  development  will  be  determined  not  only 
by  the  readiness  with  which  capital  is  obtained,  but  by 
the  extent  and  speed  of  the  enlargement  of  the  steel 
industry.  The  country  is  fairly  well  supplied  with 
coal,  and  it  has  iron  ore  in  very  great  abundance.  At 
the  present  time  the  development  of  both  coal  and  iron 
is  by  unrelated  and  comparatively  small  units;  ade- 
quate and  economical  results  will  not  be  obtained  until 
the  whole  industry  is  organized  along  comprehensive 


APPENDIX  165 


lines  and  the  raw  materials  linked  together  by  special 
transportation  facilities. 

The  Steel  and  Coal  Industries 

In  addition  to  soft  coal,  which  Russia  is  seeking  to 
conserve  for  the  steel  industry,  the  largest  anthracite 
deposits  in  Europe  are  located  in  European  Russia. 
The  production  of  anthracite  has  been  comparatively 
small.  During  the  year  ending  July,  1914,  the  output 
was  only  about  five  million  tons,  although  there  was  a 
shortage  of  fuel  at  Moscow,  but  650  miles  distant. 
The  production  of  these  coal  fields  has  been  by  one- 
shaft  mines,  by  small  companies.  There  is  no  resident 
mining  population,  the  work  being  done  almost  entirely 
by  farmers  coming  to  the  mines  at  the  season  of  the 
year  when  they  are  not  employed  upon  their  farms. 
As  a  result  the  cost  of  producing  anthracite  is  about 
twice  what  it  is  in  this  country.  The  government  has 
recently  adopted  the  policy  of  conserving  soft  coal  for 
the  steel  industries,  and  to  that  end  has  made  regu- 
lations requiring  the  use  of  anthracite  for  all  industrial 
boilers  and  railroads,  after  a  certain  date.  This  will 
greatly  stimulate  the  use  of  anthracite  and  necessitate 
the  placing  of  the  mining  upon  a  more  comprehensive 
and  economical  basis. 

The  foregoing  are  simply  isolated  illustrations  of  the 
needs  for  capital  in  Russia.  There  are  other  impor- 
tant ones,  such  as  hydro-electric  development,  muni- 
cipal and  interurban  transportation,  harbour  works, 
canals  and  ship-building,  and  possibly  still  more  im- 


166  APPENDIX 


portant  is  the  additional  general  working  capital 
necessary  to  finance  the  incidental  commerce  and 
trade  that  is  a  part  of  a  great  progressive  movement. 

RUSSIA'S  FINANCES  AND  COMMERCE 

The  Guaranty  Trust  Company  of  New  York  has 
published  a  brochure  with  the  above  title  and  has  given 
me  consent  to  incorporate  extracts  from  it  in  my  book. 
Russia's  financial,  agricultural,  and  manufacturing 
conditions,  as  they  loom  up  at  this  time,  October, 
1916,  are  very  important  and  interesting.  Following 
are  the  extracts. 

It  is  probable  that  Americans  know  less  of  Russia 
than  they  do  of  any  other  country  with  which  they 
trade.  We  have  learned  little  about  her  except 
through  hostile  powers  whose  advantage  lay,  for  one 
reason  or  another,  in  dwelling  on  what  was  bad  and  in 
passing  lightly  over  what  was  good  in  the  Empire. 
Few  of  us  have  more  than  a  vague  realization  of  the 
great  strides  in  industry  and  civic  development  made 
by  the  Russian  people  before  the  war. 

It  is  undoubtedly  wise  in  estimating  the  future  of 
Russia  to  use  the  past  as  a  measuring  stick,  but  in 
doing  so  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  the  probable  effects 
of  the  present  war. 


The  volume  of  export  business  which  has  been 
developed  from  the  United  States  to  Russia  during  the 


APPENDIX  167 


present  war  is  arousing  among  our  bankers  and 
manufacturers  a  spirit  of  very  thoughtful  interest 
as  to  the  advisability  and  possibility  of  establishing 
the  foothold  they  have  gained,  so  that  they  may  con- 
tinue their  connection  after  the  restoration  of  peace. 

In  spite  of  the  Revolution  and  the  Japanese  War 
the  gold  reserve  in  the  Treasury  and  the  State  Bank 
increased  from  approximately  1,100,000,000  roubles 
in  January,  1904,  to  approximately  2,175,000,000 
roubles  on  December  31,  1913. 

The  following  table  shows  theXamount  of  public 
Russian  debt  at  the  nominal  value  of  the  securities 
outstanding  at  the  end  of  each  year  from  1903  to 
1913: 


Roubles 

Roubles 

1903 

6,651,836,000 

1909 

9,054,619,000 

1904 

7,081,746,000 

1910 

9,030,206,000 

1905 

7,841,164,000 

1911 

8,957,875,000 

1906 

8,625,560,000 

1912 

8,858,054,000 

1907 

8,725,523,000 

1913 

8,824,523,000 

1908 

8,850,782,000 

Thus,  after  1909,  each  year  showed  some  reduction 
in  the  net  amount  of  the  outstanding  debt  of  the 
Empire. 

The  following  indicates  the  increase  in  receipts  in 
ordinary  state  revenue  in  Russia: 

Roubles  Roubles 

1867  415,000,000  1912  3,105,917,000 

1897  1,416,000,000  1913  3,417,000,000 

1908  2,418,000,000 


168  APPENDIX 


It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  first  increase  of  one 
billion  roubles  after  1867  required  thirty  years,  the 
second  increase  of  one  billion  roubles  between  1897 
and  1908  required  eleven  years,  while  the  third  in- 
crease of  one  billion  roubles  between  1908  and  1913 
required  only  five  years. 

For  the  year  1913  there  was  a  general  surplus 
of  69,600,000  roubles  of  all  receipts  both  ordi- 
nary and  extraordinary  over  all  expenditures  in  the 
budget. 

Deposits  in  Russian  banks  and  state  savings 
banks  increased  almost  steadily  from  2,500,000,000 
roubles  in  1904  to  almost  6,000,000,000  roubles  in 


In  the  same  period  the  number  of  State  Sav- 
ings Banks  increased  from  6417  to  8160,  and  the 
number  of  depositors  increased  from  4,854,000  to 
8,597.000. 

Per  capita  state  expense  of  Russia  as  compared 
with  other  important  European  powers  in  1903  and 
1913  is  indicated  in  the  following  tables: 

1903  1913 

Germany  58.9  67.3 

France  36.0  52.6 

Austria-Hungary  27.7  42.1 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland  35.1  40.0 

Italy  21.1  28.1 

Russia  15-2  19-5 

Per  capita  size  of  state  debt  of  Russia  as  compared 
with  other  important  European  powers  in  1903 
and  1913  was  as  follows: 


APPENDIX  169 


1903 

1913 

Prance 

291 

308 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland 

145 

179 

Italy 

143 

150 

Germany 

116 

142 

Austria-Hungary 

"5 

132 

Russia 

48 

52 

The  increase  in  her  national  debt  should  encourage 
the  development  of  her  vast  but  hitherto  almost 
untouched  natural  resources,  so  that  that  debt  may 
be  promptly  and  easily  paid. 

The  tremendous  effort  being  put  forth  to  manu- 
facture munitions  and  supplies  for  her  armies  should 
mean  the  establishment  of  a  domestic  manufacturing 
organization  incomparably  superior  to  any  that 
existed  before  the  war. 

The  decrease  in  state  revenue  due  to  the  abolition 
of  the  vodka  traffic  has  been  accompanied  by  an 
unparalleled  increase  in  savings  bank  deposits  and 
efficiency  of  labour. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  Teutonic  organization  that, 
before  the  war,  practically  conducted  the  industry 
and  finance  of  Russia  at  first  almost  paralysed  the 
operation  of  the  Empire,  but  taught  the  people  the 
folly  of  depending  in  peace  too  much  on  citizens  of  a 
foreign  country  which  might  become  at  any  time  an 
enemy  power. 

Railway,  Postal  and  Telegraph  Service,  etc. 

The  amount  of  freight  carried  by  the  railways  of 
Russia  increased  from  164,484,000,000  Ibs.  in  1904  to 


i7o  APPENDIX 


255,168,000,000  Ibs.  in  1912;  during  the  same  period 
the  freight  receipts  increased  from  457,000,000  roubles 
to  736,000,000  roubles. 

The  number  of  passengers  transported  on  Russian 
railways  increased  from  107,500,000  in  1904  to  192,- 
600,000  in  1912,  and  the  cash  receipts  from  passengers 
increased  during  the  same  period  from  117,100,000 
roubles  to  193,000,000  roubles. 

The  revenue  from  state  railways  increased  from 
567,937,000  roubles  in  1909  to  813,604,000  roubles  in 


In  1914  there  were  in  course  of  construction  1907^ 
miles  of  state  railways  at  a  cost  of  427,61  1,505  roubles. 

In  addition  to  the  state  railways,  the  total  length 
of  joint-stock  and  private  railways  authorized  for 
construction  in  1913  and  1914  was  8218  miles  at  a 
cost  of  977,394,062  roubles. 

It  is  true  that  the  financing  of  many  of  these  joint- 
stock  and  private  railway  companies  has  never  been 
completed  owing  to  the  war  and  other  causes,  but  the 
figures  indicate  the  activity  in  railway  construction 
which  existed  before  the  outbreak  of  hostilities. 

The  share  of  the  state  in  the  profits  of  certain  pri- 
vately owned  railway  companies  increased  from 
1,720,000  roubles  in  1909  to  26,584,000  roubles  in 


The  income  from  postal  revenue  increased  from  58,- 
176,000  roubles  in  1909  to  79,065,000  roubles  in  1913. 

The  income  from  telegraph  and  telephone  revenue 
increased  from  29,613,000  roubles  in  1909  to  40,733,- 
ooo  roubles  in  1913. 


APPENDIX  171 


Agricultural  Products 

A  comparative  table  of  the  production  of  f our  cereals 
in  the  United  States  and  Russia  in  the  year  1913 
follows: 


Russia 

United  States 

Bushels 

Bushels 

Wheat 

955,98o,ooo 

763,380,000 

Oats 

1,222,875,000 

1,121,768,000 

Barley 

562,800,000 

178,189,000 

Rye 

'.  999,5  14,285 

41,381,000 

The  harvest  of  potatoes  in  Russia  for  1913  was 
78,246,000,000  Ibs.  (1,304,100,000  bushels). 

The  output  of  sugar  from  the  beet  root  in  Russia  in 
1913-14  was  3>325,595>472  Ibs.  (1,662,797  tons). 

The  output  of  tobacco  in  Russia  in  1913  was 
248,472  pounds. 

The  output  of  cotton  in  Russia  in  1913  and  1914  was 
1,025,640  bales. 

Attitude  of  the  Russian  Government  towards  the  Development 
\of  Education  and  Industry  as  Evidenced  by  Appropriations 

1903  ion          Increase      Per  Cent,  of 

ROUBLES         ROUBLES       ROUBLES         Increase 

Government  Railroads  416,300,000  591,700,000  175,400,000  42 

Department  of  Trade  Industry     40,200,000     60,900,000     20,700,000  51 

Department  of  Transportation, 
exclusive  of  Government  Rail- 
roads 32,900,000     52,800,000     19,900,000  61 

Department  of    Posts  and  Tele- 
graphs 39,100,000     80,000,000     40,900,000  105 

Department   of     National   Edu- 
cation 39,400,000  142,900,000  103,500,000  263 

Department  of  Agricultu.e  31,500,000  135,600.000  104,100,000          330 


i72  APPENDIX 


From  the  New  York  Evening  Sun,  January  19, 
1917. 

COUNT  ILYA  TOLSTOY  TELLS  THE  STORY  OF 
THE  GREEN  LITTLE  STICK  PLANT- 
ING THE  WORD  THAT  WILL  PUT 
OUT    THE     FIRE— UNCHRIS- 
TIAN TO  KILL 

Count  Ilya  Tolstoy,  who  resembles  his  father  in  his 
stature,  blue  eyes,  nose,  and  beard,  and  is  in  the 
United  States  to  expound  the  ideas  of  the  great 
Russian  novelist,  says  that  the  answer  his  father 
would  give  for  the  solution  of  the  burning  problems 
that  vex  the  world  today  is  in  a  word  of  four  letters. 

The  failure  to  comprehend  this  word  is  responsible 
for  the  form  patriotism  takes  and  the  European  war. 
It  is  a  word  carved  on  a  green  little  stick,  which  is  said 
to  be  buried  in  the  Yasnaya  Polyana,  and  about 
which  the  Count  talked  in  an  interview  today. 

Count  Tolstoy,  moved  by  this  word  and  a  growing 
understanding  of  America,  spoke  out  in  a  way  that 
was  unusual  for  a  European  on  American  soil  for  the 
first  time.  That  very  popular  question,  "What  do  you 
think  of  New  York? "  was  not  put  to  the  Count  in  that 
form.  His  comment  in  answer  to  another  question 
as  to  the  similarity  between  America  and  Russia  was 
gentle  and  sympathetic. 

"America,"  he  said,  "is  young,  as  young  as  Russia 
and  equally  unsophisticated.  Your  people  are  very 
impressionable,  readily  moved.  It  is  in  marked  con- 


Copyright  Underwood  &•  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

Miss  Florence  Fair  Giving  her  Aid  to  Make  the  Russian  Bazaar  a  Success. 


APPENDIX  173 


trast  with  the  terrible  moral  decline  of  old  Europe 
in  all  domains  of  spiritual  endeavour,  art,  music,  litera- 
ture, which  was  so  prophetic  of  the  present  war.  In 
many  ways  I  feel  that  Russia  and  America  are  very 
close. " 

A    RUSSIAN    FAIRY    STORY 

Count  Tolstoy  has  written  a  fairy  story  about  the 
green  little  stick,  a  story  which  his  father  heard,  one 
which  concerns  the  woods  where  his  father  is  buried. 
The  story  is  all  about  the  one  all-important  word — 
love. 

"My  story  has  no  setting  in  time  or  space,"  said 
the  Count  today.  "It  was  long  ago  when  mills  were 
on  the  spot  and  men  dug  ore  from  the  depths  of  the 
earth.  Ages  passed.  The  soil  became  black,  mixed 
with  slag.  Two  boys  roamed  through  the  woods  tell- 
ing each  other  stories.  They  were  talking  of  love, 
how  all  men  will  some  day  become  brothers.  Niko- 
lenka  wrote  a  word  on  a  green  little  stick,  and  said 
that  before  men  could  become  brothers  this  word  must 
be  known.  That  was  ages  ago,  when  the  stick  was 
buried,  and  the  boy  said  that  whoever  found  the  stick 
would  make  all  men  happy. 

"After  the  passage  of  time  peasants  came  to  the 
slope  and  dug  a  three-yard  grave  at  the  summit  and 
the  next  day  when  a  multitude  of  people  gathered, 
they  lowered  the  corpse  of  a  gray,  robust,  old  man. 
Behind  the  slope  a  hare  builds  his  lair. 

"Then  night  comes.  The  whole  western  horizon 
is  purple-red  with  fire.  The  sky  is  bathed  in  blood. 


174  APPENDIX 


War!  Shadows  of  the  oaks  lie  upon  the  snow  when  a 
ghost  rises  from  the  grave.  In  his  hands  he  holds  a 
little  green  stick.  The  ghost  roams  through  houses, 
humble  huts  and  hamlets,  speaking  the  word  to  every- 
body and  everybody  understands.  But  the  West  still 
burns:  is  still  aflame.  The  ghost  hurries  his  steps  to 
the  westward.  Confused  and  disconcerted  people 
rush  by.  He  wanted  to  tell  them  the  word,  but  his 
feeble  voice  was  drowned  by  the  roar  of  thunder 
in  the  fumes  of  smoke.  After  gazing  long  on  the 
furnace  the  ghost  wended  his  way  back  to  the  slope  of 
the  seven  oaks.  And  the  fire  will  be  extinguished 
because  the  green  little  stick  is  there. 

"I  cannot  express  in  any  other  way  the  message  of 
my  father  to  humanity.  The  ideas  of  Christ  that 
were  understood  as  my  father  understood  them  are 
eternal  ideas.  They  are  not  ideas  that  change  with 
time,  so  I  cannot  speak  about  what  should  be  a 
message  to  the  people  with  reference  particularly  to 
America.  In  such  an  effort  I  should  be  obliged  to 
restrict  my  ideas.  That  is  why  I  do  not  speak  about 
peace  between  nations  and  the  politics  of  nations — 
because  the  idea  of  Christ  is  wider.  His  teaching  was 
not  peace  simply.  His  teaching  was  love.  All  political 
questions  are  changed  by  time  and  space  and  Christian 
ideas  as  my  father  understood  them  are  eternal  and 
they  do  not  change  with  time.  So  I  would  say  to 
Americans  or  any  other  people,  the  only  way  to 
understand  my  father's  ideas  is  to  rise  to  the  height 
of  a  moral  understanding  of  life  in  the  terms  of  eternal 
truth,  which  were  given  as  a  guidance  for  all. 


APPENDIX  175 


KROPOTKIN    GRIEVES   HIM 

"I  must  say  that  I  have  been  astonished  by  Prince 
Kropotkin,  who  has  been  many  times  quoted  as  say- 
ing that  a  defensive  war  is  justifiable.  I  am  very 
much  astonished.  He  was  very  close  to  the  ideas 
of  my  father,  and  I  am  sure  my  father  would  not 
approve  any  war  because  his  views  on  war  were  the 
result  of  his  understanding  of  the  gospel,  of  the  idea  of 
love  and  non-resistance. 

"After  The  Hague  Conference  he  said  that  it  had 
become  evident  that  so  long  as  there  existed  govern- 
ments with  troops  the  abolition  of  wars  and  of  arma- 
ments would  be  impossible.  These  words  sound  as 
though  they  were  very  close  to  all  Europe,  which  now 
seems  to  wish  the  abolition  of  militarism. 

"  I  am  here  to  speak  now  at  a  time  when  the  ideas  of 
Christ  have  been  forgotten.  I  find  it  my  duty  to 
remember  these  ideas  and  the  teachings  of  my  father, 
which  were  the  ideas  of  Christ. 

"It  is  too  deep  a  question  to  consider  now  whether 
the  men  in  the  war  are  in  their  hearts  growing  toward 
or  further  away  from  Christianity.  But  broadly  speak- 
ing, one  can  only  exclaim  that  men  cannot  be  Christians 
who  are  engaged  in  killing  others.  How  can  one  hold 
that  men  who  are  engaged  in  killing  are  Christians 
when  Christianity  itself  is  the  principle  of  love.  The 
only  way  to  be  a  Christian  would  be  to  refuse  to  fight. 
As  war  is  evil  I  do  not  believe  the  war  can  lead  to  any 
good,  and  I  do  not  look  forward  to  reforms  as  a  result 
of  the  war. " 


i76  APPENDIX 


Count  Tolstoy's  first  lecture  is  scheduled  for  to 
night  at  Carnegie  Hall. 

"I  am  not  unaware,"  he  said,  "that  there  is  a  very 
great  spiritual  movement  in  America,  because  I  know 
my  father  had  many  friends  here,  and  he  received 
many,  many  letters  showing  that  there  are  many 
people  here  who  hold  the  same  views  on  religion  as  he 
held." 

He  referred  to  the  fact  that  his  father  was  always 
more  interested  in  America  than  in  Europe,  and  to  his 
own  eagerness  to  understand  America  better  by  com- 
ing into  close  contact  with  the  people  in  the  workshops 
and  conditions  under  which  they  labour. 


Postscript 


177 


Postscript 

JUST  at  the  closing  of  the  printers'  work  on 
this,  book  cablegrams  from  Petrograd  came  to  us 
day  and  night  with  the  startling  revelation  of  a 
great  revolution  overtaking  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment under  the  inspiration  of  a  people  believing 
that  their  day  of  redemption  from  a  monarchial 
government  has  come.  Upheld  as  they  were  by 
the  Duma,  Czar  Nicholas  peacefully  surrendered 
his  crown  and  decamped.  . 

Never  in  the  world's  history  has  there  been  so 
great  a  triumph  of  democracy  over  aristocracy, 
of  republicanism  over  a  Kingdom  with  so  little 
sacrifice  of  human  life. 

The  Czar's  quick,  peaceful  abdication  of  his 
throne,  his  unavoidably  by  hereditament,  is  evi- 
dence of  a  head  and  heart  inherited  from  his 
father,  Alexander  the  Third. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  revolt  was  the  resultant 
of  the  conviction  that  the  Czar  had  purposed  a 
separate  treaty  of  peace  with  Germany. 

179 


i8o  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

Russia's  emancipation  from  the  dreadful  scourge 
of  intoxicants  had  changed  their  vodka-soaked, 
rum-dumb  subjects  to  sober,  clear-thinking,  patri- 
otic reformers,  the  force  of  whose  nationalistic 
power,  wrought  through  the  Duma,  has  freed 
Russia  from  what  tlireatened  to  be  a  surrender 
to  Germany. 

The  following  letter  from  my  esteemed  friend, 
Mr.  Wharton  Barker  of  Philadelphia,  throws  light 
upon  the  situation  up  to  its  date,  March  21,  1917, 
and  I  am  indeed  pleased  to  have  it  in  the  conclu- 
sion of  my  story  as  it  relates  to  Russia  of  today. 

LETTER  FROM  WHARTON  BARKER 

March  21,  1917. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  FRANCIS  B.  REEVES: 

Because  you  ask  me  to  make  a  statement  for  publi- 
cation in  your  book  upon  Russia  about  to  issue,  of  my 
views  of  the  cause  and  consequence  of  the  revolution 
in  that  country,  I  do  so.  For  forty-two  years  I  have 
known  Russia  and  Russians  in  a  way  open  only  to  a 
very  few  Americans;  in  a  way  not  open  to  Europeans 
at  all.  Because  of  German  influences  on  the  Emperor 
Alexander  II.  Russia  was  silent  and  inactive  while 
Prussia  fought  and  despoiled  Denmark,  Austria  and 
France.  Bismarck  made  Russians  believe  that  an 
Imperial  Germany  must  be  to  stop  British  aggressions 


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POSTSCRIPT  181 


upon  Russia,  and  so  came  the  Triple  Alliance  of  Ger- 
many, Russia  and  Austria  immediately  after  the  crea- 
tion of  the  German  Empire.  German  influence  made 
Russia  accept  defeat  at  the  Berlin  conference  after  the 
war  with  Turkey  and  so  the  Treaty  of  San  Stef ano  was 
cast  aside  and  almost  all  that  Russia  had  fought  for 
was  denied  her.  It  was  German  influence  that  forced 
Count  Witte  to  negotiate  the  famous  German-Russian 
Commercial  Treaty  that  reduced  Russian  manufac- 
turers to  almost  ruin  and  that  brought  no  relief  to  the 
Russian  farmers.  It  was  German  threats  that  held 
in  Russia  armies  that  should  have  been  sent  to  Asia 
to  fight  the  Japanese  and  made  the  Czar  Nicholas  II. 
accept  at  the  Portsmouth  peace  conference  a  peace  of 
humiliation.  It  is  not  necessary  to  speak  of  more 
sinister  German  work,  in  international  politics.  The 
Russian  Emperors,  The  Russian  bureaucrats, — more 
properly  called  German-Russian  bureaucrats, —  have 
dominated  for  centuries  the  Russian  government  and 
policies,  not  only  without,  but  also  within,  the  Empire. 
The  Army  and  the  Navy  have  too  often  been  used  to 
further  plans  of  the  German  intriguers  who  came  to 
Russia  with  the  German  Princesses  who  became  Em- 
presses of  Russia.  All  of  these  intriguers  had  to  be 
given  places  of  power  and  wealth  and  of  course  high 
standing  at  the  Russian  Imperial  Court.  So  long  as 
British  statesmen,  bankers  and  merchants  were  blind 
to  the  aggressions  that  they  thought  Russia  made 
upon  British  rights,  they  did  not  see  that  when  the 
Emperor  Nicholas  I.,  prior  to  the  Crimean  war,  pro- 
posed the  division  of  Turkey  between  Russia,  France, 


182  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

Great  Britain  and  Italy,  that  he  saw  the  German 
menace  and  sought  to  secure  permanent  peace  from 
his  proposal.  When  Edward  VII.  came  to  the  throne 
of  England  he  concluded  not  to  be  only  a  figurehead 
and,  appreciating  the  German  purpose  to  destroy  the 
British  Empire,  he  sought  and  succeeded  in  establish- 
ing the  Entente  between  Great  Britain,  France  and 
Russia  and  so  came  the  alliance.  When  Germany 
failed  because  of  the  resistance  of  Belgium  to  overrun 
France  before  Russia  could  mobilize,  Germans  knew 
that  defeat  in  the  war  was  inevitable  unless  Russia 
was  taken  out  of  the  alliance  they  fought.  For  more 
than  a  year  the  German  entourage  of  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  II.  has  been  hard  at  work  to  accomplish  this 
end.  Russians  who  believe  that  this  German  influ- 
ence must  be  cast  out  have  fought  this  Court  intrigue 
until  the  climax  was  reached  when  they  demanded 
the  abdication  of  the  Czar  Nicholas  II.  and  of  other 
Romanoffs  who  were  heirs  to  the  throne,  and  the  es- 
tablishment in  Russia  of  rule  by  the  Duma,  the  crea- 
tion of  a  democratic  republic,  with  religious  and  civil 
liberty  secured. 

The  whole  Russian  people  knew  that  this  internal 
condition  could  not  be  unless  Germany  and  her  allies 
were  conquered  and  Prussian  militarism  destroyed 
and  so  they  have  pledged  themselves  to  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  Belgium  and  Servia  that  they  will  con- 
tinue the  war  with  a  vigour  so  sustained  that  victory 
for  the  allies  will  be  sure. 

The  democrats  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  their 
allies  know  that  victory  for  them  in  the  great  war  is 


POSTSCRIPT  183 


sure  because  democrats  are  now  and  will  continue  to 
be  in  control  of  the  government  of  Russia. 

I  believe  this  statement  will  answer  your  purpose. 

Yours  very  truly, 

WHARTON  BARKER. 

EVOLUTIONARY  REVOLUTION 

A  good  thing  about  the  Russian  revolution  is  that 
it  is  not  revolutionary. 

No  reports  come  of  confiscations  or  chateau  burn- 
ings. The  gutters  of  Petrograd  are  free  of  blood. 
There  is  no  guillotine.  The  czarina,  under  suspicion 
as  another  Marie  Antoinette,  lives  safely  within  her 
palace.  Life  and  property  are  secure.  The  army 
is  urged  to  greater  loyalty  to  national  self-defence. 

The  Russian  people  have  rid  themselves  of  the  rule 
of  an  essentially  alien  autocracy.  They  have  scat- 
tered the  archives  of  the  secret  police.  They  have 
made  a  beginning  toward  eliminating  internal  race 
hatreds,  and  Russian,  Pole,  Finn,  and  Jew  are  to  have 
equal  rights.  But  so  far — no  further.  The  change  is 
great,  but  Russia  is  not  to  be  made  over  at  once  ac- 
cording to  the  principles  of  social  revolutionists.  A 
republic  Russia  may  have,  but  a  republic  that  the 
extreme  Socialist  fumes  at  as  of  the  bourgeoisie. 
There  are  political  democracy  and  liberalism,  but  not 
yet  communism. 

The  less  the  haste  of  Russia  the  greater  is  likely  to 
be  her  speed.  If  a  Jacobin  party  shall  arise  and  over- 
throw the  Girondins  of  the  Duma,  it  is  almost  certain 
a  counter-revolution  will  occur,  even  as  it  occurred  in 


184  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

France.  Liberty  is  beautiful,  but  to  man  order  is  the 
primal  necessity.  In  the  hard  task  of  choosing  be- 
tween liberty  and  order  the  human  animal  selects 
order  as  of  the  greater  value.  The  old  conditions  in 
Russia  will  never  come  back,  but  if  there  is  to  be  a 
steady  pressing  forward  toward  the  realization  of  the 
dream  of  social  justice  it  is  to  be  by  recognizing  the 
expediency  of  conservatism  rather  than  by  emphasiz- 
ing radicalism.  Man  is  many  things,  but  never 
wholly  consistent  or  rational,  and  the  Russian  shares 
the  defect  of  the  species.  The  way  to  attain  100  per 
cent,  justice  is  to  get  50  per  cent.,  and  then  60  per 
cent.,  and  so  on  with  gains  whose  slowness  maddens 
the  logical. 

In  America,  where  many  victims  of  Russian  auto- 
cracy have  found  refuge,  a  disposition  exists  to  mis- 
read what  has  occurred  and  thus  to  lay  the  foundations 
for  disillusionment.  Liberalism  won  in  Russia  be- 
cause it  slowed  up  enough  to  get  in  step  with  the  ideals 
of  an  army  whose  officers  are  of  the  classes  and  whose 
rank  and  file  is  largely  composed  of  ignorant  and 
superstitious  peasants.  The  Russian  intellectuals, 
having  exploited  theory,  will  do  well  if  they  play  in 
practical  affairs  the  rdle  of  opportunism.  The  evolu- 
tionary revolution  of  Russia  is  brilliantly  successful, 
but  its  prospects  will  darken  if  its  leaders  accept  the 
advice  plentifully  given  to  them  by  American  friends. 
Realism  is  the  keynote  of  Russian  literature,  and 
realism  should  be  the  central  thought  of  Russian 
politics. — The  New  York  Globe. 


POSTSCRIPT  185 


FOUR  GOOD  DEEDS  OF  THE  CZAR 

No  event  of  the  war  has  pleased  us  more  than  the 
news  that  Mr.  Nicholas  Romanov  had  retired  to 
private  life.  We  trust  that  he  will  be  able  to  spend 
the  rest  of  his  life  in  peace  and  quietude,  for  as  an 
individual  he  does  not  deserve  the  enmity  which 
progressive  Russians  have  felt  toward  him  as  a  czar. 
Few  czars  have  been  better;  most  of  them  have  been 
much  worse.  It  is  impossible  to  say  in  how  far  he 
has  been  personally  responsible  for  the  good  and  evil 
of  his  reign,  but  there  are  at  least  four  acts  that  are 
ascribed  to  him  for  which  Russia  owes  him  a  great 
debt  of  gratitude. 

The  first  was  the  calling  of  The  Hague  Conference. 
This  did  not  accomplish  what  he  hoped  for :  the  reduc- 
tion of  armaments,  the  elimination  of  the  brutalities 
of  war,  and  the  maintenance  of  world  peace,  but  it  was 
a  great  step  forward  in  the  promotion  of  international- 
ism and  the  idea  of  it  is  now  dominant  in  all  plans  for 
future  peace. 

The  second  was  when  he  called  the  representatives 
of  the  people  to  assemble  in  a  Duma.  It  may  be  said 
that  this  was  forced  upon  him  by  a  threat  of  revolution 
but,  nevertheless,  it  was  against  the  advice  of  the  con- 
servative court  party  that  he  made  this  concession  to 
popular  demand.  The  first  Duma  was  a  chaotic  and 
incompetent  body,  but  from  it  has  grown  the  present 
level-headed  and  efficient  parliament. 

Thirdly,  on  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  exercised  his 
autocratic  power  and  banished  vodka  from  Russia. 
This  meant,  as  his  financial  advisers  pointed  out,  a 


186  RUSSIA  THEN  AND  NOW 

loss  of  nearly  half  a  billion  dollars  just  when  money 
was  most  needed.  But  it  was  a  wise  act,  for  it  saved 
the  country  much  more  than  the  cost  of  the  liquor  and 
made  the  people  prosperous  in  spite  of  the  war.  That 
the  revolution  was  effected  with  so  little  rioting  was 
due  to  the  elimination  of  alcohol. 

Finally  he  deserves  credit  for  the  last  act  of  his 
reign — his  resignation.  When  he  was  met  at  the 
ancient  free  city  of  Pskov  by  the  representatives  of  the 
Duma  with  an  edict  of  abdication  ready  for  him  to 
sign,  General  Ivanov  advised  him  to  refuse,  saying: 
"  There  is  only  one  thing  to  be  done.  Open  the  Dvina 
gate  and  let  the  Germans  clean  out  the  canaille  of  the 
Duma. "  But  the  Czar  said:  " No,  I  will  never  betray 
my  country  to  maintain  my  throne."  Not  so  did 
Louis  XVI.  and  Louis  XVIII.  and  Francis  Joseph  and 
many  and  other  sovereign  act  in  similar  situations. 

Against  the  long  list  of  crimes  which  are  charged 
against  czardom  these  four  beneficent  acts  at  least 
are  to  be  credited  to  Nicholas  II. 

The  Independent. 


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